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Artist and Patron: Amigoni and Farinelli

Table of Contents

• The Artist
• The Patron
• On the London Stage / In the Public Eye
• English Resentment / Social Satire
• Artist, Patron, Friends and Relatives
• Farinelli’s Voice / A Spanish King’s Therapy
• Mutual Acclaim in the Spanish Court
• Conclusion

Jacopo Amigoni’s Venus Disarming Cupid is a mythological scene in a pastoral setting, a popular motif during the rococo period. The goddess of love lightheartedly teases her infant son, Cupid, by depriving him of his favorite amorous weapon. [1] She smiles indulgently as she holds the arrow just out of the plump little god’s eager grasp. Amigoni conveys an aura of lively intimacy and bucolic play, combining Italian bravura with the visual opulence and sensuously applied flesh tones of Flemish art.

Jacopo Amigoni, Italian, 1682/85-1752: Venus Disarming Cupid, 1730s or 1740s; oil on canvas, 76.0 x 63.7 cm. (29-15/16 x 25-1/16 in.). Ackland Fund, 86.47

The painting was originally owned by the Italian castrato singer, Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli, and may have been acquired by him when both men were living in London as part of the arts scene there. They became lifelong friends as they adapted their careers to shifting patterns of patronage, taste, and artistic styles. During their extended association, Farinelli often acted as Amigoni's protector and patron, while Amigoni in turn advanced the fame of the singer. Their concurrent lives illustrate the itinerancy of Italian artists and musicians during the eighteenth century and demonstrate how Italian subcultures functioned in northern European societies. While both Amigoni and Farinelli enjoyed exposure to prevailing artistic tastes at German-speaking courts, they also benefited from their mutual Italian legacy, Italy being viewed by the north as a cosmopolitan center of art and theatre. After a shared success in London, they both concluded their careers in the employ of Madrid's Bourbon royalty.

In the related worlds of art and theater in eighteenth-century Europe, the social and artistic circles of Amigoni and Farinelli merged with those of colleagues, collectors, and connoisseurs. During this period in Europe and England, artists and musicians also preserved close associations with the nobility who acted as patrons and advocates. It was a collaborative age, which encouraged exchanges through professional societies and clubs. European court artists and musicians were not socially separate; many had professional, financial, and even familial ties. Successful careers in the arts depended on social connections and contacts with the elite, much like today. Artists and musicians who were skilled at forging and maintaining relations at court, in salons, in the theater, or on tour, were often the most successful. [2]

The Artist

Jacopo Amigoni (1685-1752) was a pioneer of the Venetian rococo; numerous artistic travels informed his increasingly international decorative style. He painted decorative frescoes for churches and palaces as well as history and mythological pictures. Many of his works were reproduced in prints, and these served as models for tapestries and for the decoration of clocks, wardrobes, and porcelains. His initial style combined a northern Italian mix of Roman and Bolognese classical influences. Later, in Bavaria, in service of the Elector Max Emanuel, Amigoni observed the Flemish style of Rubens, which contributed a vitality and painterly boldness to his art. Max Emanuel, who had been exiled in Paris, exposed the artist to French culture as well; Amigoni’s frescoes and embellished interiors were emulations of Versailles as seen in such buildings as the abbey at Ottobeuren of 1728 in Munich. [3] He made influential contacts in France as well, benefiting from a new Franco-Venetian sensibility fostered by the wealthy connoisseur, Pierre Crozat. He was greatly inspired by the pastels of Rosalba Carriera there. Amigoni made contacts with Anton Maria Zanetti, a printmaker, collector, agent and dealer and one of the most influential figures of eighteenth-century Venetian culture who had traveled to Paris and established friendships with prominent figures throughout Europe. [4]

In 1729, Amigoni moved to London. England was perceived as the most commercial nation of Europe, and many believed that its emphasis on trade stimulated a prosperity offering attractive opportunities for struggling artists. [5] Amigoni remained there for ten years enjoying success as a decorative artist, portraitist, and history and mythological painter. [6] It may be during this period that he painted the Ackland picture, his Venus Disarming Cupid, since Farinelli acquired it while living in London. Furthermore, many believe that the Venetian artist “painted his loveliest mythological easel pictures during his English period.” [7] As the fashion for ambitious Baroque decoration declined in the mid-1730s, Amigoni began to seek work as a set designer, engraver, and portraitist. The artist appears to have had a keen business sense, managing to convey polite modesty while obtaining royal commissions and skillfully negotiating considerable fees for his work.

In the era of the Grand Tour and the subsequent enthusiasm in England for Italian opera and art, professional contacts and collaborative ventures flowed freely among itinerant performers and artists. Italian artists collaborated with composers and producers on theatrical productions. [8] Jacopo Amigoni is known to have painted a Banquet of the Gods on the ceiling at the famous Covent Garden Theatre as well as a fresco above the stage. [9]

The Patron

By the time Farinelli made his London debut, he was already a well-known theatrical figure throughout Italy, Bavaria, and Vienna. Indeed, Farinelli (1705–1782), whose real name was Carlo Broschi, was one of the most famous Italian soprano castrato singers of the eighteenth century. [10] He was born in Apulia to a family of minor nobility, an unusual circumstance as castrati typically came from poor families. Following in the tradition of those before him, he was sent to a 'conservatory', a place reserved for the training of castrati. These schools gave the boys extensive voice training, lessons on composing and provided them with the opportunity to improvise musically and even compose. [11]

In early eighteenth-century opera, the castrato voice was considered essential, often written as the character of the hero. Composers such as George Fredrick Handel and Claudio Monteverdi wrote for the castrato voice; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart included a part for a castrato in his opera, Idomeneo. Castrati seem to have had an almost magical effect on people, perhaps because of their sexual ambiguity and element of fascination. [12] They themselves were considered to be "half-godlike, half-human beings," often taking on the roles of famous Greek and Roman heroes from antiquity. [13]

Under the instruction of his teacher, Nicola Porpora, Farinelli acquired an extraordinary voice and became a performer of great renown throughout Europe. In Naples, in a 1720 performance, Farinelli made his first public appearance in Porpora's Angelica e Medoro. [14] Here, Farinelli met the opera’s librettist, Metastasio, who would remain a lifelong associate and friend. [15] Two years later, Farinelli made his first appearance in Rome in Porpora’s Eumene, where the composer devised a clever tour de force for the display of his pupil’s voice and technique. Porpora, arranging to have a famous German trumpet player perform obligato for one of the arias, brought Farinelli’s voice into direct comparison with the instrument. “Farinelli stood the test admirably; in breath-control, in phrasing, in flexibility, in every technical detail the boy of seventeen showed himself the peer of the master of the trumpet.” [16] With ever-increasing success and fame, Farinelli appeared in nearly all the great cities of Italy.

In 1733, Farinelli accepted Porpora’s invitation to join his new London company, the Opera of the Nobility, in London. [17] Farinelli’s debut performance was as Arbace, an ancient Persian hero, in Johann Adolf Hasse’s Artaxerxe. He was an instant sensation. His singing “prompted a [certain] Mrs. Fox-Lane to stand in her box and shout, ‘One God! One Farinelli!’” [18] Along with his extraordinary range and musicianship, Farinelli had a charming and cultured personality, perhaps due to his genteel background, which enhanced the status of the opera. By implication, the aim of the company was to entertain and move aristocratic audiences toward moral and spiritual ideals while implying these principles were the inherent qualities of nobility and royalty. [19] Unlike many of his fellow-singers, Farinelli seems to have embodied these ideals.

On the London Stage / In the Public Eye

Jacopo Amigoni may have become acquainted with Farinelli in Munich or Venice in 1728-29, but it was the singer’s three-year stay in London that solidified their friendship. [20] Within a year of Farinelli’s first London performance, Amigoni painted two portraits of him. One, a full-length portrait of 1734, now in Bucharest, sheds light on their inventive mutual support. The portrait was regal in concept, glorifying the singer being crowned by Euterpe, the muse of music, heralded by Fame and surrounded by playful putti. No eighteenth-century aristocrat had been more gloriously depicted. To add to its grandeur, it hung in Amigoni’s public studio alongside the artist’s portrait of Queen Caroline. [21] Farinelli had commissioned his own portrait, and Caroline had commissioned hers, but the artist’s studio exhibition visually underscored the era’s mutual understanding between operatic performers and the ruling class. The queen was also endorsing Amigoni, who, in the face of declining decorative projects, would turn increasingly to portraits of the elite. Following the exhibit, Amigoni’s colleague, the engraver Joseph Wagner, made a print of the painting, thereby making the image available to an even-wider public.

English Resentment / Social Satire

Amigoni’s success with the aristocracy of London frustrated native English artists. A literary spokesman for a group of artists that included William Hogarth wrote essays censuring Amigoni’s talent. [22] However, the real objection to Amigoni was the support he received from wealthy English patrons who should have been employing their fellow countrymen. [23] English artists such as Hogarth also made Farinelli a target of satire, using his performances as a tool for criticizing the extravagances of wealthy opera-goers and the superficiality of Italian opera. An engraving in Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress contains a long banner listing the many gifts bestowed on Farinelli. At the bottom of the banner is a cartoon of the singer on a pedestal being offered burning hearts by the aforementioned Mrs. Fox-Lane and other adoring women with the title “One God! One Farinelli!” [24]

Jacopo Amigoni, Italian, 1682/85-1752 (painter); Joseph Wagner, German, 1706-1780 (engraver): Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli, Dates, engraving, 29.8 x 21.2 cm. (11-3/4 x 8-3/8 in.). Gift of Robert M. Light, 91.102

This portrait of the Italian singer, designed by an Italian, engraved by a German, with inscription in Italian but perhaps produced in London, suggests the international culture that centered on Italian opera.

As a prominent media figure, the press often caricatured Farinelli. Castrati were, from the first, both greatly revered and greatly loathed. The notion of the castrato had generated tremendous controversy eliciting passionate responses from admirers and detractors alike. Humorous caricatures of Farinelli lampooning his vocal style, his bad acting, his altered bodily condition, his Italian lyrics, and the glittering wealth he accumulated, all circulated alongside unqualified critical praise and frankly amorous verses by enthralled ladies. [25]

Visually, the subject for ridiculing a castrato was his altered physical condition. Castrati were often unusually tall with abnormally large lungs and barrel chests. [26] Before Farinelli’s arrival in London, the Venetian caricaturist, Anton Maria Zanetti had drawn Farinelli in profile capturing his tall, spindle-legged castrato physique as well as his protruding upper lip. [27] Pier Leone Ghezzi visually satirized him performing as a female. In England, dramatist Henry Fielding mocked the infatuation society ladies had for Farinelli.

Was you at the opera, madam, last night? / Who can miss an opera while Farinello stays. / Sure he is the charmingest creature. / He’s every thing one could wish. / Almost every thing one could wish.” [28]

Artist, Patron, Friends and Relatives

The satirical jests do not seem to have diminished the singer’s great acclaim. As was typical of the period, artists such as Farinelli constantly networked while promoting themselves and their colleagues. He acted as an agent in the extensive mechanism that brought together singers, composers, librettists, set designers, dancers, and musicians for the theatrical season. With the nobility providing the necessary funds, and singers broadcasting the prestige and authority of their nominal protectors, performers often organized and managed their own affairs. Farinelli earned roughly five thousand pounds annually, including elaborate gifts from royalty, dignitaries, and nobles. Farinelli’s friends and colleagues benefited as well by their collaborations with the singer. Among these were his brother, Riccardo Broschi, an accomplished composer, Nicola Porpora, his former master, and Pietro Metastasio, the poet and librettist whom Farinelli had first met in his public debut. [29]

Amigoni was also skilled at playing the role of entrepreneur. The king’s royal circle awarded Amigoni as many as forty portrait commissions. [30] The artist’s close association with Farinelli continued to be another source of advantage. A music historian of the period, John Hawkins, writes that Amigoni may very well have designed the sets for many of the operas in which Farinelli appeared: “…sketches for scenes from any of these operas may one day surface to be attributed to Amigoni.” [31] Amigoni benefited personally as well in his marriage to Maria Antonia Marchesini, a mezzo-soprano who made her London debut in Sabrina, in which Farinelli had the leading role.

In addition to gaining theatrical and noble commissions, Amigoni set up a print shop with Joseph Wagner who had joined him in London in 1732. [32] (FIG.2) The business became a going concern, increasing profits by serving a wide audience with fine prints after Amigoni’s own work and the work of other Italian artists. [33] Another valuable alliance was with Antioch Kantemir, the Russian ambassador to England (1732-1736) who later became a minister in Paris. Their correspondence, dating from 1737 to 1739, provides an interesting picture of European culture and politics of the period. [34]

Farinelli’s Voice / A Spanish King’s Therapy

Farinelli’s performance in Sabrina was to be the last time he would sing in England. His third operatic season had been less successful than the previous ones; Porpora’s theater fell into disarray as Handel’s continued to succeed. In the summer of 1737, Farinelli went to Madrid for a short season of opera; he was then pressed into the private service of Philip V, King of Spain by Queen Elisabetta Farnese who felt Farinelli’s beautiful voice could cure the king of his deep melancholy. [35] For ten years, night after night, he sang to the king the same songs, to great curative effect. [36]

Mutual Acclaim in the Spanish Court

In 1739, Jacopo Amigoni returned to Venice and, with Wagner, opened a print business while receiving painting commissions as well. Eight years later, he was called to Madrid to serve the new Spanish king, Fernando VI and his queen, no doubt at the suggestion of his friend, Farinelli. The singer had acquired an influence with the new king that gave him the power, if not the name, of prime minister. He had brought his collection of paintings to the Spanish court where they were regularly seen, exposing Amigoni’s work to a noble Spanish audience.

Once more, the two friends were together. Amigoni painted portraits and mythological scenes for the court, including a large ceiling painting, the Allegory of the Virtues of the Spanish Monarchy (1748–50) at the Palacio Real. Farinelli utilized his authority with the king by persuading him to establish an Italian opera; he subsequently became the director of all court festivities and entertainment. In 1750, in an even greater honor, the singer received the Order of Calatrava as a trusted minister of Fernando VI. [37] Amigoni painted two portraits to mark the exalted event, one of Farinelli wearing the jewel of the Order of Calatrava, and a group portrait of Farinelli with his friends Metastasio, the librettist of the opera of the occasion, the lead soprano of the opera, Amigoni in his painter’s smock and turban, as well as Farinelli’s page and dog (FIG. 3). [38] This painting, now in Australia, is a visual witness to the elaborate alliance and history of these two men and their loyal colleagues.

Jacopo Amigoni’s last work was a large unfinished portrait of the Spanish king and queen surrounded by their court, nearly completed before the painter’s death in 1752. [39] The painting is known today through a print by Charles François Flipart; in the upper right sits Farinelli, who, writing of Amigoni’s ‘noble art’, signed himself ‘il suo buon amica il Cavalier Carlo Broschi Farinello.’ While intending to preserve the painter’s memory, Farinelli also referred to the picture as Amigoni’s last grateful offering to the king. This generous maneuver persuaded Fernando to give Amigoni’s widow a generous pension and home for her family. [40]

After the death of Fernando VI in 1759, Farinelli left Madrid as a wealthy man and retired to his villa in Bologna, taking his valuable possessions and paintings. Charles Burney, an eighteenth-century music historian, visited Farinelli at his villa and viewed the extensive display of his paintings. The art collection was not the product of a serious art collector or connoisseur, but rather it was an autobiographical record in which each picture connected to the next, presenting the events of an extraordinary life. [41] Farinelli had been ennobled, and the proud message of his status was a point that he chose to make elegantly and theatrically in the villa’s interior arrangement. [42]

Conclusion

The shared success of Jacopo Amigoni and Carlo Broschi in London during the 1730s as well as their enduring relationship illustrates the close ties among Italian artists and the ways they endeavored to promote their work for mutual benefit. Their Italian legacy, in painting and in opera, positioned them as cosmopolitan arbiters of art and music. Their stories give us first-hand evidence of the collaborative artistic age in Europe and England and the importance of opera and painting in the staging of congratulatory images of European royalty. Historians can recognize the professional, financial, and even familial, ties that artists and musicians forged as well as their close associations with noble patrons. Nourished by a strong and lasting friendship, the lives of the artist and the owner/patron of the Ackland painting were inextricably linked and infused with convincing talent and ambition.