Giuseppe Galli da Bibbiena

Giuseppe Galli Bibiena (5 January 1696 - 12 March 1757), Italian designer, became the most distinguished artist of the Galli da Bibiena family.

Life He was born in Parma, Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, the second son of Ferdinando Galli Bibiena. In 1708, Ferdinando was called to Barcelona by Charles III of Habsburg to help organize and decorate his wedding to Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Queen of Prussia, and Giuseppe accompanied him. Later, Giuseppe travelled with his father to the courts of Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1711-1740), who hired Fernando to be the court's scenographer and painter. There, when his father left in 1717, he became the chief organizer of the court festivities and official functions and was named "His Majesty's Second Theatrical Engineer". It was not until 1723 that Giuseppe was officially promoted to "His Majesty's First Theatrical Engineer" and kept the position until 1747. After receiving his position in court, Giuseppe became involved in decorating all the Habsburgs' celebratory festivities. He did parties, weddings, funerals, and painted in monasteries and various countries. He also did work for religious venues, such as Melk Abbey (Pulpit and High Altar) and in Prague, where he built a decorative arch in 1729 for the celebration of John of Nepomuk. His younger brother, Antonio Galli Bibiena, was also hired by the Vienna court and worked alongside Giuseppe. Together, Antonio and Giuseppe designed theatre decorations and for festivities in Vienna, also Linz, Graz, and Prague (1723 "Costanza e Fortezza" at Hradčany castle).

The death of Charles VI in 1740 made a significant shift in Giuseppe Bibiena's career. Charles VI's daughter and successor Maria Theresa did not see the theatre as representative of her reign as her father did. Especially after her marriage to Francis I, his French tastes overturned Italian prominence in the Vienna court. Giuseppe stayed in Vienna, organized Maria Theresa's wedding and festivities and still continued to find various jobs in the area, but his significance in the Vienna court diminished. This caused Giuseppe to take various jobs outside Vienna. In 1753, Giuseppe was hired by Frederick the Great of Prussia in his court in Berlin. There Giuseppe spent the last three years of his life and died at the age of 61 on 12 March 1757.

Works in 1722, Giuseppe Galli Bibiena worked in Munich in 1723, he designed religious venues in Prague in 1735, he designed the Pulpit and High Altar for The Abbey Church, Melk Abbey in 1742, he designed the decorations for the Vienna state opera in 1744, he designed the interior of the Margrave's Opera House at Bayreuth in 1747, Giuseppe was employed at the opera in Dresden, Saxony in 1750, he renovated the Dresden opera (which burned in 1849) in 1751, Giuseppe received occasional orders from Friedrich the Great in 1753, worked permanently for Friedrich the Great in Berlin. the Smart Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museo Nacional del Prado, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the La Salle University Art Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt.