Rotari, Pietro

Born Sept. 30, 1707, in Verona; died Aug. 31, 1762, in St. Petersburg. Italian painter.

From 1734, Rotari worked in Verona. Between roughly 1750 and 1756 he worked in Vienna, Dresden, and Munich. He lived and worked in St. Petersburg from 1756 until his death. Rotari’s paintings, which are rococo in style, are marked by mannered elegance and a light palette. His work is particularly noted for idealized representations of women’s heads. More than 300 of Rotari’s paintings were in the Hall of Fashion and Grace (not preserved) of the Great Palace at Petrodvorets. Of greater interest are Rotari’s portraits of men, such as Portrait of V. V. Rastrelli (1750’s, Russian Museum, Leningrad). Rotari’s art had some influence on Russian portraitists, including F. S. Rokotov.