Antonio Beccadelli

(b Bologna, 1718; d Bologna, 20 Feb 1803). Italian painter. In Bologna he was a pupil of Felice Torelli, and he may also have studied with Giuseppe Carlo Pedretti. It is thought that he studied briefly in Venice as a young man, although most of his work was done in Bologna. In 1745 he became a member of the Accademia Clementina, with which he had a lifelong though intermittent association, presiding as principe in 1757 and serving on commissions investigating works of art dispersed during the French occupation of the city. In contemporary sources he was noted as a specialist who executed the figures in genre compositions painted by other artists; he also painted independent works in the popular genre of Giuseppe Maria Crespi. Beccadelli's documented work consists of two commissions executed for the Boschi family in Bologna. In 1763 he was paid by Valerio Boschi for three genre pictures whose titles were recorded as the Charity of the Capuchin Brothers (ex-Ricci-Curbastro priv. col.; see Roli, 1977, fig. 355b), the Interior with Table (Bologna, Santoli priv. col.) and the Country Dance (Bologna, Santoli priv. col.; see Roli, 1977, fig. 355a), in which the landscapes were executed by Carlo Lodi (1701-65). The latter two paintings were identified by Zucchini in 1947. In 1763-4 Beccadelli executed the figures in five decorative overdoors representing Landscapes (Bologna, Cassa di Risparmio), again in collaboration with Lodi, for the Villa Boschi, Bologna. There are many insecurely dated genre pictures attributed to Beccadelli, including the Family of Musicians (Columbus, OH, Wexner Cent. A.). He is said to have abandoned painting in favour of art collecting and art dealing late in his career.

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