Bartolomeo Nazari

Bartolomeo Nazari was born in Clusone, near Bergamo, to a lower-middle class family. By 1716, he had become an apprentice under Angelo Trevisani. In 1723 he visited the Roman studio of Angelo's brother, Francesco Trevisani. He also studied with Benedetto Luti. Nazari may have known Fra Galgario, the renowned portraitist from Bergamo, and is described by some as his pupil. He returned to Venice in 1724, and was registered with the Fraglia dei Pittori, the Venetian painters' guild, by 1726. In 1744, he travelled to Frankfurt to paint the emperor Charles VII and his family and other members of the court. In 1756, he was inducted into the newly founded Accademia di Belle Arti of Venice. His son Nazario Nazari was also a painter, as was his daughter Maria. Among his patrons were Consul Joseph Smith and the former general Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg (who owned over eight of his portrait paintings). He painted the portraits of a number of operatic singers including Farinelli. He died in Milan, returning from Genoa, where he had painted the Doge Giovanni Giacomo Grimaldi.