FOSCHI, Francesco

Italian painter. Born into a family of the minor nobility, Foschi traveled and worked widely through the Papal States; particularly in his native Ancona, Loreto, Pesaro and Macerata. However, his arrival in Rome in 1729 was critical in his artistic formation: it put the young painter in touch with the most important cross-currents of the ‘Grand Tour’ culture. Vernet, Van Wittel, Manglard, Pannini and others were all developing differing approaches to the veduta. Foschi, surely aware of these artists’ works, evolved his own, very specific genre to which he remained faithful throughout his long career.

After further travels, he returned to Rome in 1764 where he was to remain until his death. A number of signed and dated works have allowed the reappraisal of his stature as an artist and the reconstruction of the chronology of his works.

Francesco Foschi specialised in winter landscapes that recall the paintings of the French artist Jean-Baptiste Pillement. Pillement’s ornamental compositions became fashionable throughout Europe during the middle decades of the eighteenth century.