Francesco Nenci (artist)

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Francesco Nenci (April 10, 1781 – March 4, 1850) was an Italian Neoclassical painter who specialized in historical and sacred subjects. Born in Anghiari and died in Siena, he studied in Città di Castello, then at the Florence Academy under Pietro Benvenuti, with a brief period at Brera where he won prizes in 1805 and 1809 for Sappho and Alcaeus in Elysium and Zenobia found by the Arasse River. In 1806 he won another Florence prize for Achille swears revenge for the death of Patroclus. Thanks to a Napoleonic stipend, he studied in Rome, producing Ajace Telamonio che vuol salvarsi dalla tempesta (1814); Il pastore che toglie il fanciullo Edipo dall’ albero ove era stato appeso (1815); and Virgin in prayer with putti (1816). Back in Florence he painted the Assumption of the Virgin for Villa Poggio Imperiale. He also did the Martyrdom of Saint Irene for San Paolo Maggiore in Naples, and frescoes of Homer’s stories in Villa Bianchi near Siena. In 1833 he created large canvases for the Hall of Ulysses in the Palazzo Pitti. Nenci also made engravings, including Dante (Ancora, 1817) and the Iliad (Batelli, 1838). He taught at the Academy of Siena and became its director in 1827.