Georg Caspar Joseph von Prenner

Austrian painter, engraver, teacher. Born in Vienna (circa 1720) in the family of Austrian court painter, draughtsman and engraver Anton Joseph von Prenner (1698–1761). Studied under his father in Vienna (1730s). Lived and worked in Rome (from 1742), where he painted altarpieces and contributed engravings to Cardinal Troiano Acquaviva d’Aragona’s Illustri Fatti Farnesiani coloriti nel Real Palazzo di Caprarola (1745–47). Invited to Russia by Count Mikhail Vorontsov (1750). Worked as court painter in St Petersburg (1750–55), where he painted portraits of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Mikhail Lomonosov, Count Mikhail Vorontsov and members of his family, Count Alexei Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Count Pyotr Shuvalov (1750s). Returned to Rome (after 1755), where he painted altarpieces and works on ancient subjects (1762–66). Died in Rome (1766).