VALERIANI, Domenico - b. 0 ?, d. ~1770 St. Petersburg

Domenico Valeriani and his brother Giuseppe (d. 1762) were Italian painters, pupils of Marco Ricci in Venice. They often worked together both in Italy and abroad as designers and perspective painters (the choir of the church of the Scalzi, ballroom in the Casina di Caccia, Stupinigi). In 1742, Giuseppe went to St. Petersburg where he served as the principal decorator of the court theaters. He executed wall panels and ceilings in the palaces of St. Petersburg and its environs. He died in St. Petersburg.

Ballroom decoration

In the hunting palace at Stupinigi, outside Turin, erected by Filippo Juvarra between 1729 and 1731, a domed hall serves to link the themes of the four suits of rooms leading into it. With its four free-standing pillars and continuous second-floor balcony, the architecture itself is so open and delightful that the frescoed vault with Diana stories, executed by the Valeriani brothers, plays only a subordinated role.