Il Mulinaretto

Giovanni Maria delle Piane (1660 – 28 June 1745) or Piana was a primary court painter for over 60 years in the late-Baroque period. He is also known as "il Molinaretto".

Giovanni Maria was born in Genoa, Italy, the son of Giovanni Battista delle Piane, from the noble house Delle Piane. He was nicknamed the "Molinaretto" as his grandparents had watermills (from Italian molino, watermill). From the age of 10 till 16 years, he apprenticed with Giovanni Battista Merano, then he transferred to Rome to work under the famed fresco painter, Giovanni Battista Gaulli (il Baciccio), who held him like a son. The Genoese painter Enrico Vaymer was a fellow student and lifelong friend. In the Roman studio of Gaulli, Piane copied the works of great masters like Giulio Romano, Guido Reni, Annibale Carracci and Domenichino. These copies brought him acclaim. At Gaulli's studio, he also painted portraits. In 1684, he returned to Genoa, where the main portrait artist in the city, Giovanni Battista Carlone, had just died.

He gained the a loyal patronage in the local aristocracy recognized, noting he adapted to the new sensitivity, with attention to the fashion of his subjects, styling them with "majestic and elegant drapes taking them in certain new and witty movements". In 1695, by invitation of Count Morando, he completed a first journey to Parma, the city where his former master G.B. Merano was recently active. He found clients in the Farnesian cities and also in Genoa. He moved frequently among the cities of Emilia and Liguria, also painting sacred subjects. In 1705 the Cardinal Alberoni, sent by the Duke Francesco Farnese, assigned the artist, who seemed to be residing in Piacenza at that moment, to portray the Duke of Vendôme, commander of the Franco-Spanish troops. In 1706 the artist was again in Parma, commissioned to portray Duke Francesco, the Duchess Dorotea Sophia and the young Princess Elisabetta Farnese, Princess of Parma. Two years after he made the portrait of Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. He also traveled a few times to Milan.

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