One of the most prominent members of a family constituting the predominant artistic influence in late eighteenth-century Bologna, Gaetano Gandolfi studied, as his elder brother Ubaldo, at the Accademia Clementina. In 1760 Gaetano went to study for a brief period in Venice, an important formative trip which is reflected in the vigorous brushwork and colours of his paintings. In addition from receiving numerous commissions for altarpieces for churches throughout Emilia and elsewhere, Gaetano Gandolfi worked extensively as a fresco painter in several Bolognese palaces. In the later years of his successful career he also produced easel paintings of historical and mythological subjects. Gaetano was a gifted draughtsman and sensitive portraitist.