Balestra, Antonio

Balestra, Antonio, an Italian painter, was born at Verona in 1666, and studied three years under Antonio Belucci. In 1694 he gained the prize of the Academy of St. Luke, and was employed to paint several pictures for the churches and palaces of Rome. Balestra established a school in Venice, and his example and lectures promoted the fame of that school. In the Church of Santa Maria Mater Domini at Venice is one of his best works, representing the Nativity; and in the Church of Sant' Ignazio at Bologna is a picture by him of the Virgin and Infant, with St. Ignatius and St. Stanislaus. His other works are, Two Soldiers - one standing, the other sitting: — The Virgin Mary in the Clouds with St. John:— The Three Angels with Abraham.