Natale Schiavoni
Italian, 1777 – 1858
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Natale Schiavoni was an Italian painter and engraver, specializing in history and portraits. Many of his paintings depict seductive nubile women.
Schiavoni was born in Chioggia, near Venice, and was claimed by Frederick Mason Perkins to be a distant descendant of Andrea Schiavone, the Renaissance painter. In Venice, he trained with Francesco Maggiotto and later came under the influence of the Neoclassicism.
He was peripatetic, traveling in 1800 to Trieste, and in 1810 to Milan, where he painted Eugène de Beauharnais and the royal family. In Milan, he was able to frequent the studios of Appiani, Longhi, and Sabatelli. In 1816, Schiavoni was invited by the Austrian emperor to Vienna, to become the official portraitist for the court. From there, he returned to Venice in 1821, where he became professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. He resided in the Palazzo Giustinian on the Grand Canal. He died there in 1858.
Among his works are a Penitent Magdalene (1852), in the National Gallery of Berlin; a painting on the same subject at the Vienna Museum; a Bacchante, at the Stadel Gallery in Frankfort; and an Adoration of Shepherds, displayed at the British Museum, London. He was awarded a gold medal at an exhibition in Brussels.
His sons Felice (1803–68) and Giovanni (1804–48) were also painters of mythology and history. Among his followers was Antonio Zuccaro (1815–1892). Many of his paintings were engraved by Luigi Boscolo.