(London 1727–1802 Hinterbrühl near Vienna) An elegant horseman in a levade, lower right illegibly signed and dated: Fr. Casanova 1782, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm, in an original carved gilded frame,

Exhibited: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 1948, “Chevaux et Cavaliers”.

Francesco Casanova, the brother of the famous adventurer and proverbial womaniser, Giacomo Casanova, was born the son of an actress in London. He trained in the workshops of the Venetian veduti painters, under Gianantonio Guardi and Antonio Joli, dedicating himself to the painting of battle scenes under the influence of Francesco Simonini. He was quickly proficient in this genre and in 1752 he went to Paris, where, following his entrance to the Académie, he began a career at the courts of Europe as a much loved and often collected painter. After two failed marriages in Paris he moved to Vienna through the aegis of his friend and patron, the Prince de Ligne, where he was received by Prince Kaunitz, Maria Theresia's Chancellor. Casanova painted cheerful, genre-like scenes for de Ligne, because his friend did not enjoy battle scenes. Ligne, who was a chronicler of his time and a cosmopolitan assisted him to further success on the international stage. Tsarina Catherine the Great was particularly fond of collecting his work and commissioned several battle and pastoral scenes from him, which today hang in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Casanova's great success rests in his finely worked paintings with their emphasis on coloration and on his balanced, harmonious compositions.

Exhibited: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 1948, “Chevaux et Cavaliers”. Francesco Casanova, the brother of the famous adventurer and proverbial womaniser, Giacomo Casanova, was born the son of an actress in London. He trained in the workshops of the Ven