Fidanza Gregorio (1759 - 1823)

Gregorio Fidanza (1754 Collevecchio/Rieti – 1823 Rome) Fidanza came from an Italian family of painters from Città di Castello, documented from 1720 to 1823. He trained with his father Filippo in Rome, where in 1782 he participated in the decoration of the Palazzo Borghese. In 1787 he was appointed professor at the Accademia del Disegno in Florence; in 1790 he became a member of the Accademia di Belle Arti Clementina in Bologna, in 1791 of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Parma, and in 1813 of the Accademia di Belle Arti di S. Luca in Rome. At the beginning of the 1790s he was Cavagliere, later Grand Master, of the Order of Malta. Fidanza maintained good relations with the court in Warsaw and with Polish clients, presumably based on his acquaintance with Marcello Bacciarelli, whom Fidanza had met in Rome, probably in 1787, and with whom he corresponded between 1788 and 1792. The artist repeatedly asked his friend to intercede with the Polish king to confirm his employment at the court and to grant him an official Polish title. Purchasers of his works included English travellers to Rome, such as Francis Russel, Duke of Bedford. By 1806, Fidanza had become one of the most widely renowned landscape painters. During a trip to Rome in 1819, William Turner (1775–1851) included him in a list of the best landscape painters. In style and craftsmanship, Fidanza comes so close to his role models that the works are indistinguishable. He also worked as an art dealer, restorer and copyist, and was even involved in a court case concerning art forgery. His œuvre includes landscapes showing changing seasons and times of day, as well as seascapes depicting the rigours of nature.

Author: Ducke Astrid

Literature: Translated catalogue text from (Translation: Gail Schamberger MA, Salzburg): Ducke Astrid: Zurückgeholt. Residenzgalerie Salzburg, Salzburg 2017, S. 35-36