Michel Angelo Pietro Scotti, russified as Mikhail Ivanovich Scotti (Russian: Михаил Иванович Скотти; 29 October 1814 — 11 March 1861) was a Russian painter of Italian descent, best known for his portrait and history paintings, typical of late Romantic/Academic style.

Mikhail Scotti
Portrait drawing by Vasili Pukirev, 1856[1]
Born(1814-10-17)October 17, 1814
DiedFebruary 22, 1861(1861-02-22) (aged 46)
Resting placeMontmartre Cemetery, Paris
EducationMember Academy of Arts (1843)
Professor by rank (1855)
Alma materImperial Academy of Arts (1835)
Known forPainting
StyleAcademism

Biography

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Scotti's grave.

His father was the decorative painter, Ivan Karlovich Scotti [ru] (originally, Giovanni Battista Scotti), who was probably born in Northern Italy and brought to Russia at the age of ten by his father, Carlo [ru], also a painter, who was invited there by Giacomo Quarenghi.[2]

He received his primary education at Saint Catherine's Catholic school. After his father's death, he was adopted and raised by the artist, Alexei Yegorov, who had himself been an orphan.[2] He also audited classes at the Imperial Academy of Arts, and was awarded a silver medal for drawing from life. He graduated with a gold medal in 1835.[3] For a time, he worked on the Shepelev [ru] estate, near Ardatov, giving drawing lessons and painting icons.[2]

Shortly after, he went to Italy, by way of Germany with Count Pavel Kutaisov, chairman of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, and remained there until 1844.[3] That year, he painted icons for the Russian Orthodox chapel at the embassy in Istanbul.[2] In 1845, he created another series of icons for Saviour Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod, for which he was awarded the title of "Academician".

After 1849, he went to Moscow to replace Fyodor Zavyalov [ru] as a teacher and inspector at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.[2] His students there included Konstantin Makovsky, Nikolai Nevrev, Vasily Perov and Sergei Gribkov. He also continued to paint numerous religious works; notably at the Annunciation Church in Saint Petersburg, under the direction of its designer, Konstantin Thon.

In 1857, he began to travel, visiting Italy, Spain and France. He died in Paris after a brief, sudden illness and was buried at the Montmartre Cemetery.

Works

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References

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  1. ^ Available as reproduced in Zimenko, Vladislav M. [in Russian] (1958). "Василий Владимирович Пукирев". In Leonov, Alexei I. (ed.). Русское искусство: очерки о жизни и творчестве художников. Середина девятнадцатого века (in Russian). Moscow: Iskusstvo. ill. p. 661. OCLC 174704011.
  2. ^ a b c d e Brief biography @ RusArtNet.
  3. ^ a b Brief biography @ Russian Paintings.
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