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SEBASTIANO GALEOTTI (Florence 1675 - Mondovì 1741) GLORY OF ST. JOHN ABBOT
Pen and brown ink, grey wash; inscribed 'Tiepolo' at bottom left; 325 x 242 mm.
A preparatory study for the fresco by Galeotti in the Parma Cathedral (vault of St. Agatha Chapel, 1717-19). LITERATURE: Rita Dugoni, 'Sebastiano Galeotti', Turin, 2001; cat. no. D26 (with previous literature), illustrated.

A pupil of Gherardini in Florence and del Sole in Bologna, Galeotti traveled and painted throughout Italy. In the first decade of the 18th century he painted five lunettes with Stories of St Dominic in the second cloister of S Marco, Florence. Around 1710 he was in Pisa, where he frescoed the ceiling of the salon of the Palazzo Quarantotti. In 1715 he went to Parma to paint frescoes in St Teresa. He produced numerous works in that city. While based in Parma he accepted work elsewhere. From 1729 he was based in Genoa, producing some of his best work, and was influenced by the style of Gregorio de’ Ferrari. Surviving examples from this period include the fresco decoration of the church of the Maddalena and the frescoes of the Palazzo Spinola depicting the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche. Galeotti's style is always recognizable, and his manner altered little throughout his long career.