Footnote 32: I wish here to offer a brief tribute to the merit of his deceased master, (he died two years since) who, though a native of Pavia, resided a long period at Parma. He studied in Florence under Meucci, next at Paris, where one of his pictures was greatly applauded, and the artist elected to a place in that distinguished academy of art. On his return he became first painter to the court at Parma, and produced works no less than pupils calculated to reflect credit on his country. His Prometheus freed by Hercules, placed at the academy, his large portrait-piece of the family of Philip, Duke of Parma, which is pointed out in the Guardarobas as his best specimen, fully justify the reputation he enjoyed while living, and which continues beyond the tomb. The name of this artist was Giuseppe Baldrighi, and he died at Parma, aged eighty years.
In Piacenza there flourished Pier Antonio Avanzini, educated by Franceschini at Bologna. He is said to have been wanting in imagination, which led him, for the most part, to copy from his master's designs. Gio. Batista Tagliasacchi, from Borgo S. Donnino, sprung from the school of Giuseppe del Sole, and displayed a fine genius for elegant subjects, which induced him to study Coreggio, Parmigianino, and Guido. He was particularly ambitious of adding Raffaello to the list, but his parents would not permit him to visit Rome. He resided and employed himself chiefly at Piacenza, where there is a Holy Family much admired in the cathedral, which, in its ideal cast of features, partakes of the Roman style, and is not inferior to the Lombards in point of colouring. He was an artist, if I mistake not, of far greater merit than fortune.