A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF
Como. He was chosen bj' the Duke of Savoy to
finish a grand saloon at Rivoli, which had been
commenced by Mazzuchelli, and was left unfinished
at his death. He was afterwards made painter to
the Court, and was knighted in 1631.
BIANCHI, Okazio, was born at Rome, and, according to Abate Titi, was a painter of history of fair merit. His best work was the ' Marriage of St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary,' in the church of San Giosefi^o at Rome.
BIANCHI, Paolo, an artist chiefly employed in engraving portraits for the booksellers, flourished about the year 1670. His plates are neatly exe- cuted with the graver, but in a stifE, tasteless style. He engraved some of the portraits for Priorato'a ' History of Leopold,' among which are : Cardinal Flavio Chigi, nephew of Alexander YII., and Luigi de Benevides CariUio.
BIANCHI, PlETRO. This painter was born at Rome in 1694, and was a scholar of Benedetto Luti and Baciccio. He acquired considerable celebrity as a painter of history, portraits, landscapes, and animals. Among his most esteemed performances are a ' St. Clara,' at Gubbio, and a picture of the 'Conception,' in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, at Rome, of which a mosaic copy is in a chapel of St. Peter's. He died in 1740.
BIANCHI, Sebastiano, an Italian engraver, flourished about the year 1580. He produced some plates of devotional subjects, which are exe- cuted with the graver in a very indifferent style. Among others is a print representing the 'Emblems of our Saviour's Sufferings, with Angels,' &c.
BIANCO, Bartolommeo, distinguished himself as an architect, engineer, and painter. He was bom at Florence in 1604, and in 1612 he studied painting under Biliverti. In 1620 he visited Ger- many; on his return he decorated several houses, and painted for churches and theatres. In 1656 he went to Spain to paint scenes for theatres. He died at Madrid in the same year.
BIANCUCCI, Paolo, was born at Lucca in 1583, and was, according to Lanzi, a distinguished scholar of Guido, whose graceful and delicate style he followed. His works bear a near resemblance to those of Sassoferrato. Of his best pictures may be noticed, a representation of ' Purgatory,' which he painted for the church of the SuJfragiu, and an altar-piece of several Saints for San Francesco. He died in 1653.
BIARD, Pierre, born in Paris about 1559, was a sculptor, architect, painter, and etcher. He studied at Rome, and died in Paris in 1609. He etched amongst others a spirited plate with two eagles and foliage.
BIARD, Pierre, 'the younger,' born in Paris between the years 1592 and 1594, was an architect, sculptor, painter, and engraver. He was the son of Pierre Biard, who is best known as a sculptor. He studied in Italy, and executed as an engraver 74 etchings, representing allegorical and mytho- logical subjects, after Raphael, Michelangelo, and Giulio Romano. Though his design is deficient, he worked with a fine point. He died in Paris in 1661.
BIBIENA. See Galli.
BICCI, Family op the. Lorenzo di Bicci is the eldest member of a family of painters at Florence, about whom Vasari is somewhat confused. To Lorenzo di Bicci he attributes many works which have since been proved to be by the hand of his son, Bicci di Lorenzo. Of Lorenzo di Bicci all we know is that he was a painter ; and though his name occurs as such in records at intervals from 1370 to 1398, no authentic work by him is in existence. Bicci DI Lorenzo, painter and sculptor, the son of Lorenzo di Bicci, was born in 1373. He mar- ried in 1418, and in 1424 was registered in the Guild of Painters at Florence. He was constantly employed in decorating churches in that city and the neighbourhood, and we find his name recorded at frequent intervals from 1420 to 1452, in which year he died at Florence, and was buried in the Carmine. Vasari, who confuses the Bicci, ascribes to Lorenzo di Bicci those works which are now given on good authority to the son, Bicci di Lorenzo. Amongst Bicci's works may be men- tioned ' SS. Cosmo and Damian,' in the Ufiizi, and frescoes representing the ' Dedication of the Church by Pope Martin V.,' in Santa Maria Nuova (now Sant' Egidio), in which church he also exe- cuted some figures in terra cotta.
Neri di Bicci, the son of Bicci di Lorenzo (and not, as Vasari says, of Lorenzo di Bicci), was a Florentine painter of no great merit, who flourished in the 15th century. He was a most indefatigable worker, and his pictures are seen in the galleries and churches of Florence. His masterpiece is ' St. GiovanTii Gualberto enthroned, with ten Saints,' in the old church of San Pan- crazio. (For further information concerning the Bicci, see Crowe and Cavalcaselle's 'History of Painting in North Italy.')
BICHARD, — , a French engraver, who flourished about the year 1760, engraved some plates repre- senting tombs and buildings, from the designs of G. M. Duniont,
BICKART, JoDOCUS, flourished at Mentz about 1650 — 1672. He was a painter, and one of the earliest engravers in mezzotinto ; but his works are very rare. The following are the best known: A portrait of an old Man. A portrait of John Philip, Elector of Mentz. A portrait of au old Man reading.
BICKEU. See Miel.
BICKHAM. George, an English engraver, yas chiefly employed in engraving plates of writing, in which he excelled. He died in 1769. We have a few portraits and copies of paintings by liim, but indifferently executed — among others the fol- lowing:
George Shelly, a writing-master ; after his own design, 1709. John Clarke, also a writing-master. Robert More, another writing-master. Sir Isaac Newton, with emblematical ornaments; G. Biclcham, senior, scul. 1752. Sold by John Bickham, engraver. Peace and 'War ; after Buhens. The Gold and Silver Age ; after Rubens.
BICKHAM, Geoege, 'the younger,' the son of the engraver of the same name, was not more distinguished in art than his father. He engraved many of the humorous plates published by Miss Bowles, as well as the portraits of his father and himself in a kind of frieze, representing a view of ' Newmarket Race-course.' He died in 1849.
BIDAULD, Jean Joseph Xavier, a French landscape painter, was born at Carpentras in 1758. He was educated by his brother, Jean Pierre Xaviee
BiDAULD, a painter of landscapes and natural his-
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