Francesco Simonini was an Italian painter.

Biography

Born in Parma

Parma

Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....

, Simonini was trained at the school of Francesco Monti

Francesco Monti

Francesco Monti may refer to:*Francesco Monti *Francesco Monti...

 (known as Brescianino delle Battaglie for his battle scenes) under the guidance of his fellow pupil Ilario Spolverini

Ilario Spolverini

Ilario Spolverini , known as Spolverini, was an Italian painter.-Biography:The influence of Mercanti’s master Francesco Monti, known as Brescianino, is evident in his choice of subjects, including the battles, knights and scenes characterised by movement...

. Crucial importance attaches in this connection to a trip to Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

, where he studied the works of Jacques Courtois

Jacques Courtois

Jacques Courtois was a French painter.-Biography:He was born at Saint-Hippolyte, near Besançon. His father was a painter, and with him Jacques remained studying up to the age of fifteen...

, known as Borgognone, in great depth and made some copies of them. He also visited Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

 but found success in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, where he worked for Johann Matthias Graf von der Schulenburg, commander of the Venetian forces in the struggle against the Turks, from 1733 to 1745 and painted a great number of battle scenes involving cavalry. His peculiar style, characterised by quick brushstrokes and the use of bright colours, was developed under the influence of the contemporary Venetian school with particular reference to view painters such as Marco Ricci

Marco Ricci

Marco Ricci was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was the nephew of Sebastiano Ricci. After receiving his first instruction in art from his uncle, he visited Rome, where he was for some years occupied in drawing vedute....

 and Francesco Guardi

Francesco Guardi

Francesco Lazzaro Guardi was a Venetian painter of veduta, a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of painting....

.