Francesco Fontebasso (1707-1769) was an Italian Rococo painter, draughtsman and printmaker celebrated for his luminous color, fluid brushwork and dynamic compositions. Born in Venice, he was initially a key follower of Sebastiano Ricci (with whom he may have had his early training) and was strongly influenced by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo throughout his career. He was an adept painter of both fresco cycles and easel paintings, his works becoming highly sought after in his native city and beyond.
Fontebasso worked extensively in Venice and throughout northern Italy, undertaking decorative commissions for palaces and churches in Udine and Treviso as well as Venice. He was a founder member of the Academia Veneziana in 1755, becoming president in 1768. In 1761 he was invited to St. Petersburg, where he served as a court painter to Catherine the Great, contributed to the decoration of the Imperial Palace. In addition to painting, he produced accomplished etchings; his Various Bacchanales and Historical Scenes are, along with Tiepolo's Capricci, the only Venetian series of etchings from this era.
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