Marcello Bacciarelli

Bacciarelli studied in Rome with Marco Benefial and in 1750 was summoned to the Dresden court of Elector Frederick Augustus II (Augustus III of Poland), where he worked as a draughtsman in the picture gallery and also painted portraits. He travelled with the Saxon court to Poland and spent the years 1756-64 in Warsaw, working as portrait painter to the aristocracy. During this period he also befriended the family of the future Polish king, Stanislav II Poniatowski, ultimately assuming the position of chief propagator and interpreter of the artistic policy of the monarchy. In 1786 he was made a member of the Polish nobility and became the King’s principal painter, organizing and maintaining the artistic workshop in the Royal Castle, supervising the decoration of the King’s residence (1776-85) and coordinating the accumulation and maintenance of the Royal collection. In 1786 he was appointed Director-General of the royal buildings. When the King was forced in 1795 to abandon the capital and abdicate the throne, Bacciarelli remained in Warsaw, maintaining overall control of artistic affairs in the city, and after the death of Stanislav II in 1798 he took control of matters relating to the King’s estate and the disposal of the Royal collections.