Francesco Allegrini was the son of the painter Flaminio Allegrini; who is documented as working in Rome between 1625 and 1635. Francesco was mostly active in Rome in the middle of the 17th century. He is thought to be a pupil and follower of Cavaliere drsquo;Arpino; before entering the studio of Pietro da Cortona.Allegrini was elected to the Accademia di San Luca in 1655; together with Pierfrancesco Mola; and had a productive career as a fresco painter. He received commissions from many of the leading Roman noble families; including the Mattei; Aldobrandini; Colonna and Altieri. For Pope Innocent X he frescoed the Palazzo Pamphili with scenes from the story of Dido and Aeneas in the early 1650rsquo;s; while for Alexander VII he contributed to the decoration of the Vatican loggia. Allegrini was also active in the Roman churches of Santrsquo;Agnese; Santi Domenico e Sisto; San Marco and the convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. He painted a number of works in his native Gubbio around 1660; and may have worked in Genoa.Allegrini was a prolific draughtsman; although only rarely can his drawings be connected with known paintings or frescoes. He worked mainly in pen and ink; but also in chalk and wash. He stressed his natural gift for drawing and his taste for the minute; he saw the essence of his graphic art in the graceful; appealing penmanship.Large groups of drawings by Allegrini; characterized by rapid; sketchy pen-work and relatively small dimensions; are in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh; the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum der bildenden Kuuml;nste in Leipzig.
#3001601 in eBooks 2015-10-28 2015-10-28File Name: B018K33UNM
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