Early life and education Born in Milan, it had been intended that he follow his father's career in medicine but instead entered the private academy of the painter
Carlo Maria Giudici (1723–1804) where he received instruction in drawing, copying mainly from sculpture and prints. From there, he then joined the class of the fresco painter
Antonio de' Giorgi, which was held at the
Ambrosiana picture gallery in Milan. At the same time, he also frequented the studio of
Martin Knoller, where his knowledge of painting in oils was deepened. Also, he studied anatomy at the
Ospedale Maggiore in Milan with the sculptor
Gaetano Monti. Appiani's interest in aesthetic issues was stimulated by the classical poet
Giuseppe Parini, whom he drew in two fine pencil portraits. In 1776, he entered the
Brera Academy of Fine Arts to follow the painting courses of
Giulio Traballesi, receiving a mastery of the fresco technique. Appiani made his début with the fresco dedicated to Saints Gervasio and Protasio, executed in 1776–7 for the church at
Caglio. In 1782, he painted the altarpiece of the Nativity for the collegiate church of Santa Maria Nascente at
Arona. Between 1783 and 1784, he worked successfully in
Florence as a
stage designer. Dating from 1786 is the architectural project (completed in 1798) for the high altar of
Duomo of Monza, which was followed by frescoes with mythological subjects for the Palazzo Busca Arconati, Milan. In 1788, he painted the portrait of Alessandro Litta Arese and carried out the decorations, in collaboration with
Traballesi, for the Palazzo Orsini Falcò, Milan. In 1788, he had also begun for the Congregazione degli Osti, Milan, the great Supper at Emmaus, which was finished only in 1796.
First major works In 1789, Appiani produced his first masterpiece, the cycle of frescoes depicting the
Story of Psyche in the Rotonda of the
Royal Villa of Monza, commissioned by the Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand and influenced by Raphael’s decorations in the
Villa Farnesina, Rome. From the study of antique lamps and cameos, he derived the inspiration for
Venus and Cupid (1789–90), painted for
Giovanni Battista Sommariva. During this period, Appiani was also active as a designer of fashionable Neo-classical
furniture. In 1791, he made a nine-month journey to study in
Bologna, Florence,
Rome and especially in
Parma, where he studied the frescoes of
Correggio. On his return to Milan, he was entirely occupied between 1791 and 1795 on the frescoes for the
cupola and
pendentives of the church of
Santa Maria presso San Celso, which are considered his masterpieces (many of the drawings and preparatory cartoons are kept in Milan, Brera and
Sforza Castle). In 1795 he was a guest at the Palazzo Moriggia in Balsamo, where he executed frescoes on mythological subjects, of which the surviving portions are preserved in the
Villa Ghirlanda at
Cinisello.
Napoleonic period In 1796, on the entry of
Napoleon into Milan, Appiani made a splendid pencil portrait of him (Milan, Brera), which won him the favour of the General and numerous commissions within the
Cisalpine Republic. He designed many medals and the headings for official papers, and was put in charge of choosing the works of art to be requisitioned and transferred to France. In 1798, he produced the fresco for the salone of the
Palazzo Castiglioni in Milan, adorned with putti and mythological scenes, and a painted drop-curtain for the Teatro Patriottico, Milan, which represents
Virtue Putting Vice to Flight. In 1799–1800, he completed the cycle of frescoes with the
Myths of Apollo at the Casa Sannazzaro, Milan, later the Casa Prina (Milan, Brera; Milan, Gal. A. Mod.), and executed a beautiful posthumous portrait of
Louis Desaix (Versailles, Château). Appiani was sent to the
Consulte de Lyon in 1801, and he also travelled to Paris, where he made numerous portraits of members of the
Bonaparte family. Returning to Milan the same year, he frescoed two ceilings in the palazzi
Litta and Passalacqua with a depiction of Aurora, inspired by
Guido Reni. In 1802, having been nominated Commissario Generale delle Belle Arti, Appiani drew attention to the need to restore
Leonardo’s
Last Supper; from 1803 he worked with
Giuseppe Bossi on the preparation of the
Pinacoteca di Brera. Also in 1803, he painted the celebrated portraits of Napoleon and of
Francesco Melzi (both Bellagio,
Villa Melzi-d’Eril). The same year he began work on the Fasti di Napoleone, a series of 35 monochrome canvases for the Sala delle Cariatidi in the
Royal Palace of Milan, which were completed in 1807 (destr.; engraved under the supervision of Appiani himself and the direction of
Giuseppe Longhi). In 1804, Appiani went to Paris for the coronation of Napoleon and met
Jacques-Louis David. In 1805, he painted the portrait of Napoleon, King of Italy (Vienna, Ksthist. Mus.), and the same year he completed the canvas of the Meeting of Jacob and Rachel, which he had begun in 1795 (
Alzano Lombardo,
Basilica of San Martino). His activity as a decorator at the Palazzo Reale in Milan was notable; he painted frescoes for a series of staterooms (destr. 1943). The only ones to survive (
Tremezzo,
Villa Carlotta) are those for the
Sala del Trono, completed in 1808: the
Apotheosis of the Emperor Napoleon on the vault and four lunettes representing Justice, Prudence, Fortitude and Temperance. In the
Sala delle Udienze Solenni he represented
Minerva Showing the Shield of History to Clio on the vault and the
Four Continents in the lunettes (1809), and in the
Sala della Rotonda he painted
Peace and Hymen (1810) to commemorate the wedding of Napoleon with
Maria Luisa. Appiani died before completing the decorations of the
Sala della Lanterna, where he had completed two frescoes with the
Continence of Scipio and
Mucius Scaevola and where he had planned the
Death of Lucretia, the
Pacification between the Romans and the Sabines, as well as
Veturia and Coriolanus (preparatory drawings Milan, Sforza Castle). Among his pupils are
Carlo Prajer,
Angelo Monticelli, and
Giuseppe Bossi.
Legacy Appiani, who was perhaps the chief exponent of Italian Neoclassical painting, was valued for his impeccable technique and for his superb handling, whether in drawings, oil paintings or frescoes. His distinctive style, which was based chiefly on gentle
chiaroscuro passages and on a delicate gradation of tone inspired by Correggio and by the school of Leonardo, differs from the severe and statuesque manner of David and resembles more closely that of
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon. His paintings, particularly his frescos, were preceded by numerous preparatory drawings carried out in pencil or
charcoal. The effects of extreme softness and luminosity that characterise his drawings are also found in the paintings, which appear to have been executed with an extraordinary facility and grace. In particular, in the portraits, where he was able to overcome the formal conventions of his time, he eliminated over-attention to the surroundings through a refined feeling for colour and atmosphere. He was able to achieve similar results in his grand decorations in fresco, where the iconographic allusions to
Classical antiquity or the requirements of political allegory are resolved in compositions that are lively and refined. ==Gallery==