Portrait of singer Farinelli

This canvas depicts Carlo Broschi named Farinelli, who is considered the most famous castrato singer in history. Jacopo Amigoni portrays him in his youth, without any celebratory element yet if compared to other following portraits, which are clearly more grandiloquent because of the pose or contained allegories. The painter, friend of the singer, made a trip with him in 1736 to Paris, during which he could see works by François Lemoine and François Boucher. Amigoni is one of the most important representatives of European Arcadian culture: lightness and grace characterize his figures, while the colors are pasty and cold, stretched out in broad strokes; his compositions are always bright and elegant.