(b ?Borgo San Donnino, nr Parma; fl Naples, ?1759–77). Italian painter. He had left Parma and established himself at the court of Ferdinand IV of Naples (reg 1751–1825) by 1765, and may have been working in Naples before this date since he made large equestrian portraits of Ferdinand’s parents, Charles III Bourbon and Maria Amalia of Saxony (both Naples, Capodimonte), who left the city for Madrid in 1759. Liani’s set of portraits of Charles and Maria Amalia’s eight children (Capua, Mus. Prov. Campano) may also date from c. 1759. The series of religious narrative canvases, Christ Falling under the Cross, Christ Falls a Second Time and Christ Stripped of his Robes (Capua Cathedral) seem likely to have been painted around the same time as the royal portraits. They show Liani to have been a refined decorator rather than a painter who could convey emotions. In the cycle of canvases showing scenes from the Life of Christ and Life of the Virgin (c. 1760–65; Capua, Mus. Prov. Campano) the expressions of the figures are again restrained. The paintings are also characterized by precious chromatic effects achieved by touches of pure colour, which are indebted to the work of Domenico Mondo and Giovanni Battista Rossi. Liani’s mature portraits appear to have been exclusively of members of the Neapolitan court. He was commissioned to paint a portrait of King Ferdinand IV (1765; Copenhagen, Amalienborg) for the government of Denmark. In works such as his two portraits entitled Gentleman in Armour (Florence, priv. col., see Gregori, figs 36–7) Liani was clearly influenced by Anton Raphael Mengs’s style of portrait painting.

• Liani, Francesco
  • Naples, §II, 4: Art life and organization, c 1700–c 1860