Angelo Mazza was born in
Reggio Emilia the son of Luigi Rocca, a Count, a title Giovanni inherited. His mother, Donna Francesca Saporiti, was from an aristocratic Genoese family. After a classical education, he traveled to Bologna to study design under
Francesco Rosaspina, where he learned wood engraving. In 1816, the
Duke of Modena named him professor of engraving at the newly formed Scole di Belle Arti in Reggio. Among his pupils were
Carlo Raimondi, Pelli, Canossini, Bosi, Francesco Segnani, Belloli, and others. He gained the official position as Chamberlain to the Duke. Among his engravings are: • Three landscapes (1806). • Map of Reggio and Surroundings (1807), in
Memorie idrauliche per Dipartimenti del Crostolo, by Lodovico Bolognini. Tip. Torreggiani, 1808. •
Il Redentore (1811). • Scenic designs by
Francesco Fontanesi. (1812-1813) . • Frontispiece for
Dialogo Il Linceo, by Galileo Galilei, (1817) Copy of engraving by
Stefano della Bella. •
La Beata Virgene della Ghiara of Reggio, (1817) based on painting by
Lelio Orsi. • Portrait of Priest F. Lodovico Iabalot, famous sermon orator, 1818. •
Innocence based on painting by
Léonor Mérimée. • Portrait of
Galileo originally by B. Benvenuti in
Memorie e lettere inedite finora o disperse di Galileo Galilei, ed. GB Venturi. Modena, 1818. Vol. I. • Three paintings by A. Ostade. • Portrait of the Poet
Angelo Mazza of Parma. For his book of poetry. • Portrait of the painter
Francesco Fontanesi of Reggio, original painting by
Giovanni Delera. • Portrait of
Cardinal Pighini and
Toschi; Doctor G. Garofoli; and Abbot B. Corti, for
Storia di Scandiano by GB Venturi. Modena, 1822. • Portrait of
Archduchess Maria Luisa of Austria (1827). ==References==