Felice Giani (1758 – 1823) was a painter of the Neoclassic style. He was a prolific Italian draughtsman and painter who decorated public buildings and palaces in Rome, Venice, many cities in France and in Emilia Romagna. He did this together with a team of craftsmen and artists. Giani was in touch with many prominent people on the international cultural scene, and is known to have played a significant role in the development of the Neoclassical style. When he was 20 he moved to Rome where he immediately (in 1780) found work in the last phase of decorating Palazzo Doria. Even though Giani was already interested in the classical decorative repertory, he still flirted with futurist Romanticism.
Giani first studied in Pavia, and then he continued studies at Bologna courtesy of the sponsorship by the patronage of marchese Luigi Botta. He went ahead to study under Bartoni, Cristoforo Unterberger at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, and also under Giovanni Antonio Antolini who was an architect. He returned to Faenza in 1796 and from then until 1797, he collaborated with Serafino Lodovico Barozzi, and together they decorated the Galleria dei Cento Pacifici. While in Faenza, the artist created a studio in which he had Antonio Trentanove, Gaetano Bertolani, the brothers Marcantonio and Trifogli Ballanti Graziani as pupils. His ornamental taste and fantasy took him beyond definitions of Romantic or Neoclassical. His subjects often included Greco-Roman themes or allusions. Today, his art is found in many prestigious galleries and museums all over the world. Giani died on 10 January 1823.
