Gaetano Callani Biography
Gaetano Callani was a famous Italian painter and sculptor, born in Parma on 16 January 1736.
Admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma, in 1760 he won a prize for the drawn and modeled nude and, the following year, for the composition drawing.
In 1764, Callani entered the painting workshop of Abbot Giuseppe Peroni, who at that time was working on the church of Sant'Antonio in Parma. Thanks to his collaboration, he obtained the commission of eight statues with the evangelical Beatitudes in the same church, which he completed at the end of 1764.
In 1774 he was summoned by Giuseppe Piermarini to Milan to decorate the Salon of the Caryatids of the Royal Palace. Here, he created the sculpture of 40 statues against the walls, which give the hall its name. In May 1775, he was appointed "court painter and sculptor" by the court of Parma.
Subsequently, he moved to Rome, where he remained for six years and created various paintings including the Judgment of Paris, Leonardo da Vinci, Conjugal Fidelity and Saint James.
In 1799 he created the famous painting “Meeting of Louis XI with San Francesco da Paola”, appreciated by critics, for the church of San Francesco di Paola.
Callani died in Parma on 6 November 1809. He had a daughter, who in turn became an established painter.
