Swiss-born Italian architect, sculptor and designer. He is noted for his influential Neoclassical ornamental designs and for work as an interior decorator in Milan (Palazzo Reale) and Florence ( Palazzo Pitti). He trained in Parma where he also met Ennemond Alexandre Petitot. He became a professor at the Milan Accademia di Belle Arti in 1775 and he directed the school of ornament there until 1812.
Former “Salone dei Forestieri” (Hall for Guests) at the time of the Medici, it was transformed, at the wishes of Grand Duke Peter Leopold, into a sumptuous ballroom, and decorated in high-relief stucco between 1774 and 1776 by two brothers from Lugano, Grato and Giocondo Albertolli, hired by the Grand Duke to decorate the ballroom of Villa del Poggio Imperiale too. The rich ornamental style of the stucco works, all based on symbols of Neoclassicism, adds a refined elegance to the room, accentuated by the brightness of the white that stands out against the pastel colours (pink, green and ochre) on the walls. The side walls are spaced at intervals with Corinthian pilasters and large doorways, which are richly decorated with frames that culminate in segmental pediments leading into the rooms adjacent to the ballroom.
