RICCI, Marco
(b. 1676, Belluno, d. 1730, Venezia)

Biography

Italian painter, Sebastiano Ricci's nephew and pupil. He probably worked with Sebastiano in Florence in 1706-07. He may also have visited Rome and Milan, where he perhaps knew Magnasco, who influenced him. He went to England in 1708 with Pellegrini, with whom he worked on stage scenery, and in 1710 he seems to have gone back to Venice to fetch his uncle. They returned together to England in 1712, travelling via the Netherlands, and remained for about four years, arriving back in Venice c. 1717.

The remainder of his life is ill-documented: he appears to have worked for Sebastiano on landscape backgrounds for large religious works and to have executed small landscapes in tempera on leather. His landscapes are often 'capricci', they are usually lively and free in handling. He was one of the first Venetian etchers of the 18th century, and his 'Experimenta' were published poshumously in 1730.