Italian Rococo Era Painter, 1696-1770 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was born in Venice on March 5, 1696. His father, who was part owner of a ship, died when Tiepolo was scarcely a year old, but the family was left in comfortable circumstances. As a youth, he was apprenticed to Gregorio Lazzarini, a mediocre but fashionable painter known for his elaborately theatrical, rather grandiose compositions. Tiepolo soon evolved a more spirited style of his own. By the time he was 20, he had exhibited his work independently, and won plaudits, at an exhibition held at the church of S. Rocco. The next year he became a member of the Fraglia, or painters guild. In 1719 he married Cecilia Guardi, whose brother Francesco was to become famous as a painter of the Venetian scene. They had nine children, among them Giovanni Domenico and Lorenzo Baldassare, who were also painters. In the 1720s Tiepolo carried out many large-scale commissions on the northern Italian mainland. Of these the most important is the cycle of Old Testament scenes done for the patriarch of Aquileia, Daniele Dolfin, in the new Archbishop Palace at Udine. Here Tiepolo abandoned the dark hues that had characterized his early style and turned instead to the bright, sparkling colors that were to make him famous.  Related Paintings of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo :. | Mercury Appearing to Aeneas | Abraham and Angels | Susanna und die beiden Alten | Erscheinung der Madonna vor dem Hl. Philippus Neri | The Banquet of Cleopatra |
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Anthonie Palamedesz
, also Anthonie or Antonie Palamedesz., (1601, Delft - ca 27 November 1673, Amsterdam), was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter. According to Houbraken his father was a Flemish sculptor who carved semi-precious stone such as Jasper, Porphyry, and Agate into vases and other decorative art. His father had traveled to England in service of King James of Scotland, but after Anthonie's older brother Palamedes was born, the family returned to Delft where the boys grew up. Anthonie survived his brother Palamedes who died young in 1638. He entered the Delft Guild of St. Luke in 1636 and was in 1673 hoofdman or deacon of that guild for the last time. Palamedes primarily painted portraits and genre works, while his brother Palamedes Palamedesz. I was a battle scene painter. According to the RKD, Anthonie was the oldest brother, taught by Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt and Hans Jordaens and had joined the Delft Guild of Saint Luke already in 1621. He was married twice, and had four children in total. His pupils were his younger brother Palamedes, his own son Palamedes II, and the painter Ludolf de Jongh. Anthonie died in Amsterdam in 1673.
Jan van den Hecke
(1620-1684) was a Flemish Baroque painter. According to Houbraken he painted landscapes, which he populated with animals and other figures himself. He also made flower and fruit still lifes and could paint gold, silver, crystal, and porcelain quite well. He spent a long period travelling and working in Italy, which is noticeable in his landscapes. According to the RKD he was registered in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as an apprentice in 1636 and learned to paint from Abraham Hack, who also taught his contemporary, the flower painter Hieronymus Galle. In 1641 Van den Hecke was registered as a master of the guild. From 1653-1658 he was in Italy, but somewhere in the mid-50's he went back and forth to Belgium, since he is also registered in Brussels during that period. He died the same year as his wife Maria Adriana Heijens; when they died they left three children; Jan (II), aged 24, Maria, aged 21, and Peeter, aged 20. Van den Hecke's pupil Peeter de Clerc eventually became a master painter in the guild. Van den Hecke's son Jan van den Hecke II became a popular flower painter.
Miller, Alfred Jacob
American Painter, 1810-1874 American painter. From 1831-2 he studied with the portrait painter Thomas Sully in Philadelphia, PA. In 1832 he went to France, where he studied in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He also visited Rome before returning to Baltimore, to open a portrait studio in 1834. Three years later Miller moved to New Orleans, LA, and was engaged by Captain William Drummond Stewart to accompany an expedition to the Rocky Mountains. The journey brought Miller into close contact with the American Indians, whose hunting and social customs he depicted in 200 watercolour sketches, and with the Far West fur trappers at their annual trading gatherings. He was one of the first artists to leave a detailed visual account of the life of the American mountain men (see WILD WEST AND FRONTIER ART). Miller's Rocky Mountain paintings are among the most romantic images of the American West ever created. His works are often panoramic and dramatic, yet he was equally adept at depicting charming, intimate scenes. His free, vigorous painting style brings to life both the American Indian and the rugged pioneer. Such paintings as the Lost Greenhorn