ANGELO CRESCIMBENI (Bologna, 1734 - 1781) Portrait of a Gentleman Oil on canvas, 98X79 cm Set in an elaborate Baroque frame, the work has been traced to Angelo Crescimbeni's catalogue by Daniele Benati. The painter was a famous portraitist and his catalogue counts the illustrious names of the Italian nobility and Marcello Oretti, in his Lives of Bolognese Painters, listed no less than 350 works. Nonetheless, the canvases known today count only a small number, which is quite singular considering that he was among the few Bolognese portrait painters of the 18th century, not to mention his activities in Florence and Venice. As far as we know, Crescimbeni trained with Giuseppe Carlo Pedretti (Bologna, 1697 ; 1778) and during his career contended the scene with Luigi Crespi, renewing Bolognese taste by virtue of the lagoon examples and the suggestions of the French portraiture of Hyacinthe Rigaud and Nicolas de Largillière, without forgetting his relationship with the English painter William Keable who introduced him to the use of pastel (A. Mazza, 1984, 2003). Yet, we note with regret that identifiable portraits are also rare and here we would like to mention the paintings belonging to the municipal collections depicting Antonio Codronchi (1765), Alvise Pisani (1773) and the portrait of Marquis Luigi Angelelli (1766). We thank Daniele Benati for the attribution. Reference bibliography: M. Oretti, Notizie di Angelo Crescimbeni pittore figurista bolognese scritto di sua mano, i n Vite di pittori scritti da loro stessi, 18th century, Bologna, Biblioteca Comunale dell'Archiginnasio, ms. B 95, cc. 105r-108v R. Roli, Pittura bolognese 1650-1800. Dal Cignani ai Gandolfi, Bologna 1977, pp. 104, 166, 174, 179, 246 D. Benati, M.C. Chiusa, La quadreria di Bedonia. Dipinti della Pinacoteca Parmigiani nel Seminario Vescovile, Modena 1989, pp. 72-73, card 61 A. Mazza, Angelo Crescimbeni tra i virtuosi di musica, 2003, pp. 20-27