Ticino stucco masters in reign of D. João V in Lisbon

Abstract

This paper analyses the ornamental stuccos still existing in Lisbon that may be attributed to the reign of D. João V, on the basis of their decorative elements, from the French Regency to the first signs of the rococo. The stuccoists from Ticino living in Lisbon at the time – highly skilled "maestri d’arte”, some of them with years of professional experience obtained previously in other European countries - played an important role in the transmission of those artistic languages.
New data uncovers the origins of the most famous of those stuccoists, João Grossi (Giovanni Maria Teodoro Grossi), and sheds light on other contemporary artists from Ticino that are likely to have woeked with him in Lisbon: Domenico Maria Plura, Carlo Sebastiano Staffieri, Giovanni Francesco Righetti, Sebastiano Toscanelli and Michele Reale.