Francesco Simonini Parma 1686 - after 1755 Venice or Florence

Although known principally as a battle-painter Simonini also painted landscapes and 'subject pictures' such as this one (for his battles see G. Sestieri, I pittori di battaglie, Rome 1999, pp. 456-479). From 1730 to 1745 he worked as painter, draughtsman and advisor to Johann Matthias von der Schulenberg, the commander of the Venetian army against the Turks. Simonini participated in a number of Von der Schulenberg's military campaigns, thus explaining the large number of cavalry scenes that are attributed to him. His distinctive style, with its rapid brushwork and vivid use of colour, was formed under the influence of his Venetian contemporaries and, in particular, of the view-painter Marco Ricci.