Editing Francesco Algarotti

{{Short description|Italian polymath (1712–1764)}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Francesco Algarotti
| image         = Francesco Algarotti (Liotard).jpg
| image_size    = 200px
| caption       = Portrait by [[Jean-Étienne Liotard]] (1745), [[Rijksmuseum]], on parchment
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{birth-date|11 December 1712}}
| birth_place   = [[Venice]], [[Republic of Venice]]
| death_date    = {{death-date and age|3 May 1764|11 December 1712}}
| death_place   = [[Pisa]], [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]
| death_cause   =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality   = Venetian 
| other_names   =
| known_for     =
| occupation    = Philosopher
| alma mater    = [[Sapienza University of Rome]] [[University of Bologna]]
| spouse        =
| partner       =
| children      =
| parents       =
| relatives     =
| signature     =
}}

[[Count]] '''Francesco Algarotti''' (11 December 1712 – 3 May 1764) was an Italian [[polymath]], philosopher, poet, essayist, [[anglophile]], [[art critic]] and art collector. He was a man of broad knowledge, an expert in [[Newtonianism]], architecture and opera. He was a friend of [[Frederick the Great]] and leading authors of his times: [[Voltaire]], [[Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens]], [[Pierre-Louis de Maupertuis]] and the atheist [[Julien Offray de La Mettrie]]. [[Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield|Lord Chesterfield]], [[Thomas Gray]], [[George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton|George Lyttelton]], [[Thomas Hollis (1720–1774)|Thomas Hollis]], [[Metastasio]], [[Benedict XIV]] and [[Heinrich von Brühl]] were among his correspondents.<ref name="Eighteenth Century Bibliography">{{cite web|last=Eighteenth Century Bibliography|title=Francesco Algarotti Bibliography|url=http://www.c18th.com/author-works.aspx?id=175|publisher=C18.com|access-date=18 February 2012|archive-date=17 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617122857/http://www.c18th.com/author-works.aspx?id=175}}</ref>

==Early life==
Algarotti was born in [[Venice]] as the son of a rich merchant. His father and uncle were art collectors. Unlike his older brother, Bonomo he did not step into the company, but decided to become an author. Francesco obtained a classical education; also studied [[natural sciences]] and mathematics in [[Sapienza University of Rome|Rome]]. While the experimental physics and medicine at [[University of Bologna]]<ref>[https://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/itineraries/biography/FrancescoAlgarotti.html Francesco Algarotti]</ref> under [[Francesco Maria Zanotti]] and in 1728, he experimented with [[optics]]. (Zanotti became a lifelong friend.) He was educated in his native Venice and in Rome and Bologna. His youthful curiosity led him to travel extensively, and he visited Paris for the first time in his early 20s. There his urbanity, his brilliant conversation, his good looks, and his versatile intelligence promptly made an impression on such intellectuals as Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis and [[Voltaire]]. Two years later, he was in London, where he was made a fellow of the [[Royal Society]]. He became embroiled in a lively bisexual love-triangle with the politician [[John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey|John Hervey]], and [[Lady Mary Wortley Montagu]].<ref>Rictor Norton, "John, Lord Hervey: The Third Sex", The Great Queens of History. Updated 8 August 2009 [http://rictornorton.co.uk/hervey.htm]</ref> Algarotti left for Italy and finished his ''Neutonianismo per le dame'' ("Newtonism for Ladies") (1737 – dedicated to [[Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle]]) – a work consisting of information on astronomy, physics, mathematics, women and science and education.

== Personal life and career ==
Algarotti had made acquaintance with [[Antiochus Kantemir]], a Moldavian diplomat, poet and composer.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6sFHnfb89A8C&dq=Algarotti+Sint+Petersburg+1739+wedding&pg=PA335| title = 'By the Banks of the Neva': Chapters from the Lives and Careers of the ... By Anthony Glenn Cross| isbn = 978-0-521-55293-6| last1 = Cross| first1 = Anthony| last2 = Cross| first2 = Anthony Professor| year = 1997| publisher = Cambridge University Press}}</ref> He was invited to visit Russia for the wedding of [[Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick]].<ref>Algarotti dedicated six of the letters that made up his ''Viaggi di Russia'' to John Hervey; the others to [[Scipio Maffei]].</ref> In 1739 he left with [[Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore|Lord Baltimore]] from [[Sheerness]] to [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]. Because of a heavy storm the ship sheltered in [[Harlingen, Friesland|Harlingen]]. Algarotti was discovering "this new city", which he called the great window ... to which Russia looks on Europe.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Gg19b0fFbIIC&dq=Algarotti+Sint+Petersburg+1737&pg=PA228| title = The Petrine Revolution in Russian Architecture By James Cracraft| isbn = 978-0-226-11664-8| last1 = Cracraft| first1 = James| date = 26 October 1988| publisher = University of Chicago Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3Jccp2DawwMC&dq=Algarotti+window+to+the+West&pg=PA58| title = Cultures of Forgery: Making Nations, Making Selves| isbn = 978-1-135-45827-0| last1 = Ryan| first1 = Judith| last2 = Thomas| first2 = Alfred| date = 13 May 2013| publisher = Routledge}}</ref> Returning from [[Saint Petersburg]], they visited [[Frederick the Great]] in [[Rheinsberg]]. Algarotti had obligations in England and came back the year after. Then Algarotti went together with Frederick to [[Königsberg]] where he was crowned.

[[File:The Chocolate Girl by Jean-Étienne Liotard.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Nandl Baldauf, la belle chocolatière (1743/44). The [[pastel]] by Liotard was sold in 1745 by Algarotti to Dresden.<ref>Walter Koschatzky (Hrsg.): Maria Theresia und ihre Zeit, p. 313. Zur 200. Wiederkehr des Todestages. Ausstellung 13. Mai bis 26. Oktober 1980, Wien, Schloß Schönbrunn. Im Auftrag der Österreichischen Bundesregierung veranstaltet vom Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung, Gistel, Wien 1980.</ref>]]

Frederick, who was impressed with this walking encyclopedia, made him and his brother Bonomo [[Prussia]]n counts in 1740. Algarotti accompanied Frederick to [[Bayreuth]], [[Kehl]], [[Strasbourg]] and [[Moyland Castle]] where they met with Voltaire, who was taking baths in [[Kleve]] for his health.<ref>MacDonogh, G. (1999) Frederick the Great, pp. 142–145.</ref> In 1741 Algarotti went to [[Turin]] as his diplomat.<ref name= Smeall2010 >{{cite thesis|last=Smeall|first=Cheryl Lynn|year=2010|title=How to Become a Renowned Writer: Francesco Algarotti (1712- 1764) and the Uses of Networking in Eighteenth-Century Europe|publisher=McGill University|type= PhD|url=https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=NR77555&op=pdf&app=Library&oclc_number=1019473467|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429043403/https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=NR77555&op=pdf&app=Library&oclc_number=1019473467|archive-date=29 April 2021}}</ref> Frederick had offered him a salary, but Algarotti refused. First, he went to [[Dresden]] and Venice, where he bought 21 paintings, a few by [[Jean-Étienne Liotard]] and [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]] for the court of [[Augustus III of Poland]].<ref>[http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/blog/framework-empire-flora-giovanni-battista-tiepolo The Empire of Flora by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo] at Legion of Honor</ref><ref>[http://www.hermitage.nl/en/tentoonstellingen/venetie/schoonste_schijn.htm Eighteenth-century Venetian Art] at Hermitage Amsterdam</ref> Algarotti did not succeed in inducing the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]] to launch a treacherous attack upon Austria.<ref>MacDonogh, G. (1999) Frederick the Great, p. 191.</ref>

===Algarotti and the other arts===
[[File:Giovanni Paolo Panini - Interior of the Pantheon, Rome - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|200px|The interior of the [[Pantheon (Rome)]] by [[Giovanni Paolo Pannini]], ordered by and belonging to the art collection of Algarotti<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=K_zR2mHWPmoC&dq=Algarotti+Pannini+Pantheon&pg=PA111| title = Tiepolo's Cleopatra by Jaynie Anderson| isbn = 978-1-876832-44-5| last1 = Anderson| first1 = Jaynie| year = 2003| publisher = Macmillan Education AU}}</ref>]]

Algarotti's choice of works reflects the encyclopedic interests of the [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassic era]]; he was uninterested in developing a single unitary stylistic collection, and envisioned a modern museum, a catalog of styles from across the ages. For contemporary commissions, he wrote up a list of paintings he recommended commissioning, including history paintings from [[Giambattista Tiepolo|Tiepolo]], [[Giambattista Pittoni|Pittoni]], and [[Piazzetta]]; scenes with animals from [[Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione|Castiglione]], and [[veduta]] with ruins from [[Giovanni Paolo Pannini|Pannini]]. He wanted ''"suggetti graziosi e leggeri"'' from [[Antonio Balestra|Balestra]], [[François Boucher|Boucher]], and [[Donato Creti]].<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=K_zR2mHWPmoC&dq=Algarotti+Pannini+Pantheon&pg=PA111| title = ''Tiepolo's Cleopatra Door'', by Jaynie Anderson, p. 109| isbn = 978-1-876832-44-5| last1 = Anderson| first1 = Jaynie| year = 2003| publisher = Macmillan Education AU}}</ref> Other artists he supported were [[Giuseppe Nogari]], [[Bernardo Bellotto]], and [[Francesco Pavona]].

In 1747 Algarotti went back to Potsdam and became court chamberlain, but left to visit the archeological diggings at [[Herculaneum]].<ref>MacDonogh, G. (1999) Frederick the Great, p. 192.</ref> In 1749 he moved to Berlin. Algarotti was <!--involved in the production of operas and--> involved in finishing the architectural designs of [[Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff]] who had fallen ill. In February 1753, after several years residing in Prussia, he returned to Italy, living most of the time in Bologna, where he was friendly with [[Laura Bassi]], the first salaried female teacher in a university. In 1759 Algarotti was involved in a new opera-style in the city of [[Parma]]. He influenced [[Guillaume du Tillot]] and the [[Philip, Duke of Parma|Duke of Parma]].

[[File:Adolph-von-Menzel-Tafelrunde2.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Gathering on [[Sanssouci]] in the Marble Hall, with Frederick II. (the Great) of Prussia, [[Voltaire]], [[Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens|d'Argens]], [[Julien Offray de La Mettrie|La Mettrie]], [[James Francis Edward Keith|James Keith]], [[George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal|George Keith]], Friedrich Rudolf von Rothenburg, Christoph Ludwig von Stille, and Algarotti. The painting was lost in 1945.]]

Algarotti's ''Essay on the Opera'' (1755) was a major influence on the librettist [[Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni]] and the composer [[Tommaso Traetta]], and in the development of [[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck's]] reformist ideology.<ref>Orrey, p. 81</ref> Algarotti proposed a heavily simplified model of ''opera seria'', with the drama pre-eminent, instead of the music, ballet or staging. The drama itself should "delight the eyes and ears, to rouse up and to affect the hearts of an audience, without the risk of sinning against reason or common sense." Algarotti's ideas influenced both Gluck and his librettist [[Calzabigi]], writing their ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice]]''.<ref name="Orrey83">Orrey, p. 83</ref>

In 1762 Algarotti moved to [[Pisa]], where he died of tuberculosis. Frederick the Great, who several times had needed Algarotti for writing texts in Latin, sent in a text for a monument to his memory on the [[Camposanto Monumentale|Campo Santo]].

==Works==
*[http://www.algarotti.uni-trier.de/ Bibliography and Inventory of all known letters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174453/http://www.algarotti.uni-trier.de/ |date=3 March 2016 }} at Algarotti Briefdatenbank der Universitätsbibliothek Trier {{in lang|fr}}
*[http://friedrich.uni-trier.de/oeuvres/18/ Correspondence with Frederick the Great] at Digitale Ausgabe der Universitätsbibliothek Trier {{in lang|fr}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110613214747/http://137.204.24.205/cis13b/bsco3/Default.asp Il newtonianismo per le dame], 1737. The International Centre for the History of Universities and Science (CIS), University of Bologna
*"Saggio sopra la pittura"<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SNY9AAAAcAAJ |title= Saggio sopra la pittura|last1= Algarotti|first1= Conte Francesco|year= 1764}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=p_ZXZd3fH6kC&q=Francesco+algarotti+painting&pg=PA475 |title= Art in theory, 1648–1815: an anthology of changing ideas |author1= Charles Harrison |author2= Paul Wood|isbn= 978-0-631-20064-2 |date= 8 February 2001 |publisher= Wiley }}</ref>
*"An essay on architecture" (1753).<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.riha-journal.org/articles/2011/2011-jan-mar/ungureanu-carlo-lodoli| title = Cosmin Ungureanu, "Sia funzion la rappresentazione." Carlo Lodoli and the Crisis of Architecture}}</ref>
*"Letters military and political" (1782).<ref>[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433009291224?urlappend=%3Bseq=766the letter] is on [[Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1747)]].</ref>
*"Essai sur la durée des règnes des sept rois de Rome"
*"Essai sur l'empire des Incas"
*{{cite book |first=Francesco |last=Algarotti |year=1783 |title=The modern art of love; or The congress of Cythera |translator=Calamo Ludimus | url=https://archive.org/details/modernartloveor00algagoog |publisher= G. Kearsley |location=London}}
*{{cite book | first= Francesco| last= Algarotti | year= 1739 | title=Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy Explained for the use of Ladies, in six dialogues on Light and Colours |volume=I | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qG1bAAAAQAAJ&q=Francesco+Algarotti | publisher= E. Cave, St. John's-Gate, London. }}
*{{cite book | first= Francesco| last= Algarotti | year=1764 | title=Saggio sopra la pittura |publisher=Presso Marco Coltellini |location=Livorno | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SNY9AAAAcAAJ }}<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=p_ZXZd3fH6kC&dq=Francesco+algarotti+painting&pg=PA475 ''Art in Theory 1648–1815: An Anthology of Changing Ideas''], Charles Harrison, Paul Wood, Jason Gaiger, eds.</ref>
*{{cite book | first= Francesco| last= Algarotti | year=1756 | title=Saggio del Conte Algarotti sull'Architettura e sulla Pittura | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CqIUAAAAQAAJ&q=Francesco+Algarotti | publisher= Societa Tipografica de' classici Italiani |location=Milan}}
*{{cite book | first= Francesco| last= Algarotti | year=1755 | title=Saggio sopra L'Opera in Musica | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=oy9DAAAAcAAJ&q=Francesco+Algarotti | publisher= Ex donat. Molliana.}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Pisa, Camposanto interno.JPG|Algarotti tombstone on the left in neo-classical style
File:Monumento sepolcrale del conte Francesco Algarotti (m. 1764) di Carlo Bianconi, Mauro Tesi e Giovanni Antonio Cibei.JPG|Tomb of Algarotti in [[Camposanto di Pisa]], designed by [[Mauro Antonio Tesi]] and Giovanni Antonio Cibei.
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 170-415, Potsdam, Französische Straße.jpg|Algarotti was involved in the design of the [[Französische Kirche]] in [[Potsdam]]; picture taken just after the war.
File:Francesco Algarotti.jpg|Francesco Algarotti by [[Giovanni Boggi]], who copied a portrait by J. É. Liotard
Michelessi, Domenico – Memorie intorno alla vita e agli scritti del conte Francesco Algarotti, 1770 – BEIC 1320197.jpg|[[Domenico Michelessi]], ''Memorie intorno alla vita e agli scritti del conte Francesco Algarotti'', 1770
File:Algarotti, Francesco - Saggi, 1963 - BEIC 1729548.djvu|''Saggi'', 1963 (Italian, full text)
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Algarotti, Francesco, Count|volume=1|pages=598–599}}
* {{cite book | first= Francis|last= Haskell| year=1993| title= Patrons and Painters: Art and Society in Baroque Italy| chapter= Chapter 14 | others=1980 | pages= 347–360 | publisher= Yale University Press}}
* {{LiteraryEncyclopedia|type=people|uid=5830|author=Laura Favero Carraro|article=Francesco Algarotti}}
* MacDonogh, G. (1999) ''Frederick the Great''. New York: St. Martin's Griffin
* Orrey, Leslie; [[Rodney Milnes|Milnes, Rodney]] (1987). ''Opera, a concise history''. London: Thames and Hudson. {{ISBN|0-500-20217-6}}.
* Occhipinti, C. ''Piranesi, Mariette, Algarotti. Percorsi settecenteschi nella cultura figurativa europea''. Roma, UniversItalia, 2013. {{ISBN|978-88-6507-459-6}}
* [http://republicofletters.stanford.edu/casestudies/algarotti.html# Stanford University Databases]
* Frieder von Ammon, Jörg Krämer, Florian Mehltretter (eds.): Oper der Aufklärung – Aufklärung der Oper. Francesco Algarottis "Saggio Sopra L'Opera in Musica" im Kontext. Mit einer kommentierten Edition der 5. Fassung des "Saggio" und ihrer Übersetzung durch Rudolf Erich Raspe. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter 2017, {{ISBN|978-3-11-054209-7}}.

==External links==
* [https://archive.org/stream/catalogodeiquadr00selv#page/n91/mode/2up Catalogo dei quadri dei disegni e dei libri che trattano dell' arte del disegno della galleria del fu Sig. conte Algarotti in Venezia (1776)]
* [http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Algarotti%2C%20Francesco%2C%20conte%2C%201712-1764 Online books by F. Algarotti] at The Online Books Page.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161017200318/http://www.francescoalgarottihouse.com/ Francesco Algarotti's House] in Venice
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=23429&searchid=14601&tabview=imagePortrait in Tate Collection] at Tate.org.uk
* {{cite thesis|last=Smeall|first=Cheryl Lynn|year=2010|title=How to Become a Renowned Writer: Francesco Algarotti (1712- 1764) and the Uses of Networking in Eighteenth-Century Europe|publisher=McGill University|type= PhD|url=https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=NR77555&op=pdf&app=Library&oclc_number=1019473467|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429043403/https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=NR77555&op=pdf&app=Library&oclc_number=1019473467|archive-date=29 April 2021}}
* [http://www.hermitage.nl/en/tentoonstellingen/venetie/schoonste_schijn.htm All that glitters by Henk van Os]
* [http://www.stanford.edu/class/history213/SiCcopyedited.htm Becoming a Scientist: Gender and Knowledge in Eighteenth-Century Italy by Paula Findlen]
* [http://www.ufaqs.com/quotes/?search=Algarotti Thomas Carlyle on Algarotti]
* [http://rictornorton.co.uk/hervey.htm Rictor Norton, "John, Lord Hervey"], section: "Swan of Padua".
* [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/48465 Francesco Algarotti (1739) ''Il Newtonianismo per le dame.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929220654/http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/48465 |date=29 September 2015 }} – [[Linda Hall Library]]

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Algarotti, Francesco}}
[[Category:1712 births]]
[[Category:1764 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Italian philosophers]]
[[Category:Italian art critics]]
[[Category:Italian art historians]]
[[Category:Italian engravers]]
[[Category:18th-century Venetian writers]]
[[Category:18th-century Italian LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Italian bisexual men]]
[[Category:Italian bisexual artists]]
[[Category:Italian bisexual writers]]
[[Category:Italian LGBTQ poets]]
[[Category:Italian art collectors]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:18th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Bisexual male artists]]
[[Category:Bisexual poets]]
[[Category:Bisexual male writers]]
[[Category:Male lovers of royalty]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Italy]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in Tuscany]]