Francesco Algarotti

Count Francesco Algarotti (11 December 1712-3 May 1764), Italian philosopher and writer on art, was born in Venice. He studied at Rome and Bologna, and at the age of twenty went to Paris, where he enjoyed the friendship of Voltaire and produced his Neutonianismo per le dame, a work on optics. Voltaire called him his "cher cygne de Padoue" ("dear swan of Padua"). Returning from a journey to Russia, he met Frederick the Great who made him a count of Prussia in 1740 and court chamberlain in 1747. Augustus III of Poland[?] also honoured him with the title of councillor. In 1754, after seven years' residence partly in Berlin and partly in Dresden, he returned to Italy, living at Venice and then at Pisa, where he died. Frederick the Great erected to his memory a monument on the Campo Santo[?] at Pisa. He was a man of wide knowledge, a connoisseur in art and music, and the friend of most of the leading authors of his time. His chief work on art is the Saggi sopra le belle arti ("Essays on the Fine Arts"). Among his other works may be mentioned Poems, Travels in Russia, Essay on Painting, and Correspondence.

The best complete edition with biography was published by D. Michelessi between 1791 and 1794.

Evidently bisexual lover of Frederick the Great

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Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed