Giovanni Migliara Biography
Giovanni Migliara (Alessandria, 1785 - Milan, 1837) was an Italian painter and set designer. Pietro's third-born son, a cabinetmaker, studied painting with Albertolli and with Bernardino Galliani, specialized in fresco decorations. In 1804, he was chosen as an assistant by Galliani to decorate the Carcano Theater in Milan, where he developed his skills as a miniaturist, landscape painter, perspective creator and set designer.
In 1806, he began working as a set designer for the management of the Teatro alla Scala, but after four years he gave up for health reasons. Thanks to his wife's care, he overcame the difficulties and began to paint views at the easel, taking inspiration from the great Venetian landscape artists of the eighteenth century. Critics of the time defined him as the "new Newton, the lord of light, the one who rivals nature". He was welcomed as a member by many fine arts academies and received commissions from King Charles Albert, Maria Christina of Savoy, the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II, the Duchess of Parma Maria Luigia, the Archduke Ranieri Viceroy of Lombardy-Veneto and the Prince of Metternich.
His works are today mainly preserved in the Pinacoteca of Alessandria.
