Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734)

• Was an Italian painter.
• Active in Rome, Venice, Florence, Parma, Bologna and Turin.
• He accepted foreign patronage in London, when he was provided a £770 commission by Lord Burlington for eight canvases.
• He decorated the chapel at Bulstrode House near Gerrards Cross for Henry Bentinck, 1st Duke of Portland with a cycle of wall-paintings depicting scenes from the life of Christ. 
• By the end of 1716, he left England for Paris, where he met Watteau, and submitted his Triumph of the Wisdom over Ignorance in order to gain admission to the Royal French Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which was granted on 18 May 1718.
• He returned to Venice in 1718 a wealthy man, and bought comfortable lodgings in the Old Procuratory of St. Mark. 

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