Francesco Conti developed artistically in Florence in the sphere of
Simone Pignoni, and later moved to Rome, where he studied under
Giovanni Maria Morandi and Carlo Maratta until the year 1700. His
entire artistic career was characterised by the constant presence of
the Marquises Riccardi, who supported him all his life as well as
paying him a salary. They commissioned his first known works: three
canvases representing Fame, Faith and Peace, which he carried out in
around 1709 for their country house or Casino of Gualfonda. These were
the only profane paintings the artist ever produced (with the exclusion
of some portraits); his real mčtier was in fact religious painting, a
sector that he dominated in Florence for about fifty years.
Influenced
by Sebastiano Ricci,Conti abandoned the classical style that came from
his training in Rome, to instead enrich his paintings with a brighter
range of colours and a vivid play of chiaroscuro, which was always to
remain the most important element in his style. His Madonna in Glory
with St. Alexander the Pope and St. John the Baptist carried out in
1715 for Sant'Alessandro at Giogoli is a significant youthful work
showing his fondness for brilliant colours. Two other paintings that
were certainly carried out by this artist are the St. Catherine
drinking from the ribs of the Lord in Sant'Abbondio in Siena and the
Washing the feet in Villa La Quiete in Florence, both of 1729.
Conti's
activity was above all expressed in his altarpieces in the city and the
surrounding countryside. His many canvases include: the Transit of St.
Joseph at San Martino at Gangalandi of 1733-34; a St. Rochus in glory
carried out in the same period at Santa Maria at Lastra; Sts. Peter and
Paul at Santo Stefano at Cortine (with the coat of arms of the Riccardi
family), today in the Museum of Religious Art at Tavarnelle Val di Pesa.
The painter's artistic maturity reached its heights with what is
considered his masterpiece: the Madonna and Child with St. Sylvester
the Pope, St. Paul and St. Catherine of Alexandria, carried out in 1738
on a commission from the Rucellai family for the Church of Sant'Andrea
at Montecarlo Valdinievole. The clever use of light in this painting
unites the figures in a masterly composition. His St. Catherine of
Alexandria in glory in the Prato City Art Gallery probably also dates
from this culminating period, characterised by a well-defined use of
light that illuminates the colour. This luminous play of light however
tends to abate in his later works and become more diffused, as in his
painting of Sts. Ann, Joseph and Joachim in Sant'Agostino at Cortona of
1745. The artist's activity at Pisa dates from later. Here he carried
out one of the paintings of St. Dominic in prison conversing with the
Bishop of Jačn and, in 1760, started the Death of St. Joseph for
Sant'Eufrasia (today, with the previous painting, in the storerooms of
the Board of Artistic Assets), which was completed after his death by
Ignazio Hugford.
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