Born in
Mons,
Spanish Netherlands, he studied in
Florence under
Tommaso Redi, abandoning his Flemish influences for the Italian tradition. In 1715 he travelled to
London with
John Talman and tried to establish himself as a
portrait painter. He did not achieve enough success to stay, however, and returned to Florence in 1728 to teach at the
Academy of Fine Arts. In 1740, he briefly relocated to
Pisa before settling in
Rome where he died. One of his pupils was
William Hoare (1707–1792). ==Works==