Biography

Italian painter. He trained at Rome's Accademia di San Luca but left in 1766 when his master came to resent his excessive independence. When he received his first important commissions in the early 1770s, he employed a late Baroque classicist style inspired by Carlo Maratta. Around 1774, through his association with Johann Heinrich Fuseli's circle, he began adopting influences from Mannerist and Renaissance painting, as well as the antique.

Cades painted subjects from religious history and Greek, Roman, and Italian Renaissance literature. Although he remained in Rome throughout his career, He further expanded his artistic education by touring northern Italy. He worked on many decorative projects for Roman palazzi and villas and made easel paintings for churches and private patrons.

In the 1780s, as his reputation grew, Cades became a fellow at the Accademia di San Luca, and his clients included Catherine the Great of Russia.