Around the middle of the 18th century, Anton Raphael Mengs was the most renowned painter in Europe. Still, you’d be forgiven for not knowing his name. Few artists have fallen as fast, or as hard, from favor. The exhibition “Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779),” which just opened at Spain’s national art museum, the Prado in Madrid, brings the artist back into the spotlight.
Born in Bohemia, Mengs was just 18 when he was appointed court painter to Augustus III, Elector of Saxony. By 23, he was promoted to principal painter. Six months after that, Mengs left for Italy. In Rome, the art of antiquity shaped his vision for neoclassicism, and he began to shift from the bloodiness of the Baroque and the frivolity of Rococo toward polished symmetry, balance, and moderation. At 33, now a wildly successful painter of Grand Tour portraits and allegorical frescoes, Mengs entered the service of Charles III of Spain, taking charge of the decorations of the Palacio Real in Madrid. He outshone his rival Tiepolo and taught Goya, and his treatise on art reverberated across the Continent.
