Anton Raphael Mengs

Anton Raphael Mengs was one of the founders of Neoclassical painting. His portraits and religious pictures are smooth, clear and carefully balanced, and he set out to replace the playful Rococo with a nobler style based on Raphael and ancient art.

He was born in Aussig (Ústí nad Labem) in Bohemia, the son of the Dresden court painter Ismael Mengs, who trained him strictly and named him after Correggio and Raphael. He spent much of his career in Rome, where he was close to the scholar Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and his ceiling fresco of Parnassus at the Villa Albani made his name. From 1761 he served Charles III of Spain as first court painter in Madrid, decorating the Royal Palace and painting the royal family. He died in Rome in 1779.

His portraits of Charles III and Ferdinand IV show his polished court style: calm poses, fine fabrics and cool, even light.