DOMENICHINI, Apollonio

Italian painter, probably identical with the anonymous master named Master of the Langmatt Foundation, a name coming from the series of thirteen vedute owned by the Langmatt Foundation in Baden near Zurich. He is best known for his pictorial representations of views of Venice and its surroundings. His name is recorded in the records of the fraglia or guildGLOSSARYAn association of the masters of a particular craft, trade or profession (painters, goldsmiths, surgeons, and so on) set up to protect its members' rights and interests. Such guilds existed in virtually every European city in the 16th century. The guild also monitored standards of work, acted as a court for those who brought their trade into disrepute, and provided assistance to members in need. of Venetian painters in 1757, and it often appears as the painter of many works sent by the art dealer Giovanni Maria Sasso to the English minister John Strange in the second half of the eighteenth century. He was active at least 1770.

Domenichini painted numerous architectural capricci, fantastic landscapes and views of Venice - often based on prints - that are clearly indebted to the works of both Michele Marieschi (for the facture with patches of colour) and Canaletto (for the sharp rendering and lively figures). His extensive body of works includes rare vedute of Rome in which the artist was inspired by Canaletto's prototypes.