Carlo M. Mariani

Carlo M. Mariani? He was that rare painter who kept two very different studios—one for his official portraits in a fancy Roman palace, and another in a cramped attic where he painted the weird, funny scenes nobody expected. He’d spend all day in powdered wigs and silk coats, then slip upstairs to smear paint on canvases full of grinning dogs in waistcoats. The guy loved to blur the line between high art and backyard jokes. If you’ve ever seen *The Monkey Painter* (1785), you’ll know what we mean.