Giovanni Battista Pittoni (1687-1767) - The Three Kings

Oil on canvas framed.
Dimensions: 46 x 36.5 cm

Giovanni Battista Pittoni (1687-1767), a pupil of his uncle Francesco Pittoni, is following an apprenticeship that probably ends in 1713.
According to Pietro Guarienti, an 18th-century biographer, Pittoni exhibited to the public at the age of 26, and was a great success, surpassing his uncle's talent.
Pittoni particularly influenced the great Venetian masters like Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Sebastiano Ricci and Antonio Balestra will develop a style based on chiaroscuro. His Rococo paintings later evolved into neoclassicism with a palette that brightened.
Pittoni is known to have made large paintings representing religious, historical, mythological subjects (Sophonisbe and Polyxene). He was co-founder of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia (in competition at the Fraglia or guild of painters) and he succeeded as president (1758-1761) to his contemporary Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
Pittoni never left Venice, but made orders for German, Polish, Russian, and Austrian customers.
Many altarpieces can be seen in the churches of Vicenza, Padua, Bergamo, Brescia and Venice where the Cini Collection, the Accademia and the Correr Museum hold drawings by the artist.
With Giambattista Tiepolo and Giovanni Maria Morlaiter he founded
the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice where he was president and professor for many years until his death.