Alessandro Magnasco(b Genoa, 4 Feb 1667; d Genoa, 12 March
1749).
Painter and draughtsman, son of Stefano Magnasco. He did not study with his father, who died
when he was a small child. He went to Milan, probably
between 1681 and 1682, and entered the workshop of
Filippo Abbiati (1640–1715). His Christ Carrying the
Cross (Vitali, priv. col., see Franchini Guelfi,
1987, fig. 238) faithfully repeats the subject and
composition of Abbiati’s painting of the same subject (Pavia,
Pin. Malaspina). Alessandro Magnasco’s early works were
influenced by the harsh and dramatic art of 17th-century
Lombardy, with dramatic contrasts of light and dark and
livid, earthy tones, far removed from the bright,
glowing colours of contemporary Genoese painting. The
depiction of extreme emotion in the St Francis in
Ecstasy (Genoa, Gal. Pal. Bianco) was inspired by
Francesco Cairo’s Dream of Elijah (Milan, S
Antonio Abate). However, Magnasco was already expressing
himself in a very personal manner, with forms fragmented
by swift brushstrokes and darting flashes of light. The
Quaker Meeting (1695; ex-Vigaṇ priv. col., see
Franchini Guelfi, 1991, no. 18) is one of his first
genre scenes. In this early period he specialized as a
figurista, creating small human figures to be
inserted in the landscapes and architectural settings of
other painters. He also began collaborating with the
landscape painter Antonio Francesco Peruzzini, with a
specialist in perspective effects, Clemente Spera, and
other specialist painters; it was not until between 1720
and 1725 that Magnasco himself began to create the
landscapes and architectural ruins that provide the
setting for his figures.
