DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73058#0083
Cipriani
Giovanni Battista Cipriani, R.A., was a Florentine, and a fellow-pupil with Bartolozzi of
Hugford, an English artist living in Florence. He studied in Rome, and took Coreggio for
his model. Though he became an historical painter, he was better known for his drawings,
of which he executed a vast number, mostly small, graceful renderings of graceful subjects,
but remarkable for learned and correct, if not very vigorous, drawing. As a colourist he
had fine qualities of harmony. He was brought to England by Sir William Chambers
four years before Bartolozzi's arrival, and married an Englishwoman, by whom he had three
children. He was one of the original Royal Academicians, appointed by Royal Charter,
and long lived a popular man and an admirable artist—simple and genial in nature, and
full of charm in his work. He was buried in the cemetery at Chelsea, given to the parish
by Sir Hans Sloane in 1733. On the north side is his tomb, bearing the following inscrip-
tion :—
" Eximis viro, artifici, et amico, Johanni Baptists Cipriani, Florentino, hie humi defosso
honoris, luctus et benevolentiae, uno inscripto lapide triplex editit monumentum Fran-
sciscus Bartolozzi superstes. Obiit die decim4 quarta Decembris, Anno Domini 1785,
TEtatis 58."
The following is an entry in the obituary of the Gentleman's Magazine, 1786 : —
"June 14th: at his house, near the King's Mews, Mr. Cipriani, the celebrated artist,
of a rheumatic fever."
Cipriani was commissioned by the Royal Academy to make the design of the
diploma (afterwards engraved by Bartolozzi), for which he was presented with a suitably-
inscribed silver cup. The medals of the Royal Academy, executed by Mr. Pingo, were also
designed by him. He excelled in refined and elegant figure drawing; and lightly-draped
classically-formed women and charming children will be found in most of his compositions.
It is partly owing to this similarity of taste—and, perhaps, still more to the constant and
close friendship subsisting between himself and Bartolozzi—that so vast a number of the
one artist's designs were engraved by the other; and it is not too much to assert, that in
their lifetime their joint productions were almost without rivals in public favour. That
Cipriani's style may sometimes be charged with exaggerated prettiness, is shown in the
too-rounded limbs of his angels, cupids, and children, and in the fulness of contour in his
female figures, many of which, with their pretty but weak faces, might have belonged to
the same sensuously charming family. Certainly some of his cupids, if deprived of their
wings—which, by the way, are far too ethereal ever to have lifted them an inch from the
ground—might have taken first prizes in a modern baby-show. It has been said, that
" had it not been for Bartolozzi, Cipriani might have attended as chief mourner at the
funeral of his own artistic fame;" so much did the designer gain in popularity from the
exquisite reproductions of the engraver.
In the County Magazine for 1787, there is a short notice, under " The Arts," of
Cipriani's drawings sold after his death by Christie. The sale is said to have attracted
many connoisseurs and eager purchasers. His original picture (engraved) of "Cephalus
and Procris," sold for eighty guineas; a drawing of the figure of Procris alone, fetched
63 twenty-six
Giovanni Battista Cipriani, R.A., was a Florentine, and a fellow-pupil with Bartolozzi of
Hugford, an English artist living in Florence. He studied in Rome, and took Coreggio for
his model. Though he became an historical painter, he was better known for his drawings,
of which he executed a vast number, mostly small, graceful renderings of graceful subjects,
but remarkable for learned and correct, if not very vigorous, drawing. As a colourist he
had fine qualities of harmony. He was brought to England by Sir William Chambers
four years before Bartolozzi's arrival, and married an Englishwoman, by whom he had three
children. He was one of the original Royal Academicians, appointed by Royal Charter,
and long lived a popular man and an admirable artist—simple and genial in nature, and
full of charm in his work. He was buried in the cemetery at Chelsea, given to the parish
by Sir Hans Sloane in 1733. On the north side is his tomb, bearing the following inscrip-
tion :—
" Eximis viro, artifici, et amico, Johanni Baptists Cipriani, Florentino, hie humi defosso
honoris, luctus et benevolentiae, uno inscripto lapide triplex editit monumentum Fran-
sciscus Bartolozzi superstes. Obiit die decim4 quarta Decembris, Anno Domini 1785,
TEtatis 58."
The following is an entry in the obituary of the Gentleman's Magazine, 1786 : —
"June 14th: at his house, near the King's Mews, Mr. Cipriani, the celebrated artist,
of a rheumatic fever."
Cipriani was commissioned by the Royal Academy to make the design of the
diploma (afterwards engraved by Bartolozzi), for which he was presented with a suitably-
inscribed silver cup. The medals of the Royal Academy, executed by Mr. Pingo, were also
designed by him. He excelled in refined and elegant figure drawing; and lightly-draped
classically-formed women and charming children will be found in most of his compositions.
It is partly owing to this similarity of taste—and, perhaps, still more to the constant and
close friendship subsisting between himself and Bartolozzi—that so vast a number of the
one artist's designs were engraved by the other; and it is not too much to assert, that in
their lifetime their joint productions were almost without rivals in public favour. That
Cipriani's style may sometimes be charged with exaggerated prettiness, is shown in the
too-rounded limbs of his angels, cupids, and children, and in the fulness of contour in his
female figures, many of which, with their pretty but weak faces, might have belonged to
the same sensuously charming family. Certainly some of his cupids, if deprived of their
wings—which, by the way, are far too ethereal ever to have lifted them an inch from the
ground—might have taken first prizes in a modern baby-show. It has been said, that
" had it not been for Bartolozzi, Cipriani might have attended as chief mourner at the
funeral of his own artistic fame;" so much did the designer gain in popularity from the
exquisite reproductions of the engraver.
In the County Magazine for 1787, there is a short notice, under " The Arts," of
Cipriani's drawings sold after his death by Christie. The sale is said to have attracted
many connoisseurs and eager purchasers. His original picture (engraved) of "Cephalus
and Procris," sold for eighty guineas; a drawing of the figure of Procris alone, fetched
63 twenty-six