PREMAZZI, Luigi

Italian painter. He attended the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan and then the private school run by Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837). His early watercolours, based on the works of his master, were produced for the lithographic industry. His oeuvre is characterised by a repertoire of urban views produced in accordance with the dictates of perspective painting. While most of these are set in Milan, other Italian cities were also featured in later years. His smooth, precise painting also shows the influence of his contemporary Luigi Bisi in its descriptive focus on architectural detail. He presented work regularly at the exhibitions of the Società Promotrice di Belle Arti in Turin from 1842 to 1848 as well as those of the Brera Academy.

Having moved to St. Petersburg around 1850, he became a teacher at the Imperial School of Fine Arts there in 1861. Frequent stays in the Caucasus and the Middle East provided new subjects for his paintings, which he continued to send to Italian exhibitions, where they aroused wonder and curiosity.

Premazzi was known as an excellent teacher, between 1865 and 1867 he taught watercolour painting at the Pavlovsky Institute.

Afternoon Pursuits of a Lady

This watercolour is an accurate depiction of a brightly lit loggia with a masterly control of perspective. It demonstrates many of the qualities that made Premazzi such a success among nineteenth-century Russian high society.

The picture is signed and dated lower left: ‘L. Premazzi 1846’.

The Room of Coins and Medals

The foundation for the collection of coins and medals was laid by Catherine II’s numerous acquisitions. Leo von Klenze (1784-1864), the German architect who created additions to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, allotted the collection a hall on the lower floor of the New Hermitage.

Afternoon Pursuits of a Lady

The First Hall of New Sculpture in the New Hermitage

The Room of Coins and Medals