Italian painter. He was the leading Italian painter of the Neoclassical period, but more on account of the lack of native competition than because of the quality of his work, which generally looks like a rather tired imitation of David. Most of his career was spent in his native Milan, where he did large decorative schemes at Sta Maria presso S. Celso (1792-98) and the Palazzo Reale (1808). He also painted numerous portraits, which are generally more accomplished than his decorative work