Brenna, Vincenzo

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Brenna, Vincenzo (1745–c.1820). Florence-born architect who settled in Rome by 1767 and, with Franciszek Smuglewicz (1745–1807), produced drawings of Roman wall-paintings and other remains, published as Vestigia delle Terme di Tito (Remains of the Baths of Titus—1776–8). In 1777, employed by Count Stanisław Potocki (1755–1821), he moved to Poland, painting Neo-Classical grotesques for Princess Lubomirska, the Potockis, and King Stanisław Poniatowski (1764–95): some of his best Polish interiors are at Lańcut for Aigner. He then went on to St Petersburg, where he worked as a decorative painter on schemes by Cameron, from whom he learned architectural skills, and whom he succeeded as Court Architect in 1796. His main works are at Gatčina, where he designed many Neo-Classical interiors, developing a showy Imperial style from his earlier archaeological studies. He moved to Dresden in 1802, where he died.

Bibliography

Loza (1954);
Lorentz & and Rottermund (1984);
Jane Turner

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