(Parma 1689–1753 Venice)
Troops gathering before a battle, oil on canvas, 55 x 89 cm, framed

Provenance: European Private Collection

Literature: G. Sestieri, I pittori di battaglie, Maestri italiani e stranieri del XVII e XVIII secolo, Ed. De Luca 1999, fig. 40, p. 472.

Simonini began his career in Parma as a student of the battle painter Francesco Monti, called Brescianino (1646–1703). He was also influenced by Ilario Mercanti, called Spolverini (1657–1734), another pupil of Brescianino’s. During his lifetime, Simonini was one of the leading specialists of battle painting. He travelled to Florence and Rome and between 1721 and 1727 settled in Bologna, where he worked for Cardinal Ruffo, the papal governor. Between 1733 and 1745 he was employed as a painter, builder, and counsellor in the service of the Field Marshal Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg (1661–1747), the renowned commander of the Venetian troops against the Turks. Simonini accompanied Schulenburg on many military campaigns, studying the marches and battles at close range and drawing them in detail. Subsequently he trans-formed his sketches into oil paintings using a rich palette, thus lending depth and vividness to the scenes he had witnessed.

Provenance: European Private Collection Literature: G. Sestieri, I pittori di battaglie, Maestri italiani e stranieri del XVII e XVIII secolo, Ed. De Luca 1999, fig. 40, p. 472. Simonini began his career in Parma as a student of the battle painter Frances