Johannes der Täufer

1745–1746

Court painter to the Saxon electors at seventeen

Back in Saxony, the seventeen-year-old Mengs was appointed court painter (Kabinettmaler) to the Saxon electors in Dresden.

1746–1749

A second stay in Rome: conversion and marriage

Arriving in Rome for the second time, Mengs converted to Catholicism and married the Roman Margarita Guazzi, who had sat for him as a model in 1748.

1749–1751

First painter to the Elector of Saxony

Mengs became chief court painter to the Elector Frederick Augustus II on an annual salary of 1,000 thalers, which did not prevent him from spending much of his time in Rome.

late 1755

Meeting Johann Joachim Winckelmann

At the end of 1755 Mengs met the archaeologist and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who soon became one of his closest friends and opened his eyes to a new understanding of ancient art. Winckelmann strongly shaped Mengs's views on painting: in his work Mengs turned from the fashionable Rococo to early Neoclassicism.

1761

To Madrid at Charles III's invitation: working with Tiepolo

In 1761 Mengs went to Madrid at the invitation of Charles III, where together with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo he decorated the New Royal Palace and also worked at Aranjuez and La Granja; the fees of both masters at the Spanish court were unusually high. He was supported in Madrid and Rome by his friend, the Spanish diplomat and patron José Nicolás de Azara.

29 juin 1779

Died