{{Short description|German-born portrait painter of Italian ancestry}} {{refimprove|date=December 2021}} [[File:Aleksander Molinari - Autoportret.jpg|thumb|200px|Self-portrait (miniature, c. 1820)]] '''Alexander Molinari''', also known as '''Alessandro''' and '''Alois''' (5 January 1772, Berlin – 20 January 1831, Dresden) was a Kingdom of Prussia-born portrait painter of Italian descent. He worked in several countries, but is best-known for his portraits of the Russian and Polish nobility.
== Biography == From 1787, he studied at the Berlin Academy of Arts, where he excelled in portraits. After graduating, he worked in Rome (1795), Vienna (1796-1797), Glogau and, around 1800, Weimar. While decorating a church in Glogau, he met and befriended the writer, E. T. A. Hoffmann. Later, he would be the inspiration for the artist, "Berthold", in Hoffmann's story, ''The Jesuit Church in G'' (1817).<ref>Rüdiger Safranski, ''E.T.A. Hoffmann. Das Leben eines skeptischen Phantasten'', Fischer, 2000 {{ISBN|978-3-596-14301-6}}</ref>
The year 1806 found him in Saint Petersburg, where he was warmly welcomed by Salvatore Tonci, the unofficial leader of an Italian artists' colony in Moscow. By 1807, he was well-established as a portrait painter. In 1810, with Tonci's assistance, he was able to find employment as a drawing teacher for the family of Count {{ill|Бутурлин, Дмитрий Петрович (1763)|ru|lt=Dmitri Buturin}}, a bibliophile and amateur poet: living on his estate north of Obninsk.<ref>M. D. Buturin, ''Записки графа М.Д. Бутурлина'' (memoirs), Русская усадьба, 2006 {{ISBN|5-903228-03-8}}</ref>
He soon became a favorite artist of the Russian aristocracy; who admired his knowledge of foreign art, and corresponded with many, including Tsar Alexander I. Occasionally, he collaborated with another well-known portraitist, Orest Kiprensky.
In 1816, he and Kiprensky both left Russia; possibly for political reasons. He went to Warsaw, and lived there until 1822. This was followed by periods in Berlin and Dresden, where he died suddenly, from a stroke, at the age of fifty-nine.
His works may be seen at the Hermitage Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and the Pushkin Museum.
== Selected portraits == <gallery mode=packed heights=200> Image:EgorGolitsyn by Molinari.jpg|Prince {{ill|Голицын, Егор Алексеевич|ru|lt=Yegor Golitsyn}} File:Mecklenburg-Schwerin by Molinari.jpg|Duke Augustus and his wife, Louise File:Natalia Zubov 1.jpg|Countess {{ill|Суворова, Наталья Александровна|ru|lt=Natalia Zubova}} File:VladimirSergeevichGolitsynMolinari.jpg|Prince {{ill|Голицын, Владимир Сергеевич|ru|lt=Vladimir Golitsyn}} File:SaltikovoiGolovrinoiMolinari.jpg|Countess {{ill|Салтыкова-Головкина, Наталья Юрьевна|ru|lt=Natalia Saltykova-Golovkina}} File:K.A. de Balmen.jpg|Count {{ill|Бальмен, Карл Антонович|ru|lt=Karl de Balmen}} </gallery>
== References == {{reflist}}
== Further reading == * ''Портретная миниатюра в России'' (Portrait miniatures in Russia), XIX (from the collection of the State Historical Museum), Тatiana Selinova (Ed.), Художник РСФСР, 1988 {{ISBN|978-5-7370-0021-9}} * "Molinari, Alexander", In: Edward Rastawiecki, ''Słownik malarzów polskich, tudzież obcych w Polsce osiadłych lub czasowo w niéj przebywających'' (Dictionary of Polish painters), Vol.2, self-published, 1851 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=seYkAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA52 Online])
==External links== {{commonscat inline|Alexander Molinari}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Molinari, Alexander}} Category:1772 births Category:1831 deaths Category:German people of Italian descent Category:Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia to the Russian Empire Category:Painters from the Kingdom of Prussia Category:German portrait painters Category:Portrait painters from the Russian Empire Category:Painters from Berlin