Giuseppe Carlo Pedretti

Around 1720 a young Bolognese painter set the philosopher Plato on the ground in a cap and draped robes, holding open his book on the Republic. Giuseppe Carlo Pedretti was then in his early twenties and working in the studio of Marcantonio Franceschini, one of the leading painters in Bologna, where he stayed until 1729. The Belvedere's record of the painting also names another Bolognese painter, Giacomo Antonio Boni.

Pedretti's one long journey came next. From 1729 to 1732 he worked in Lviv for the Rzewuski, a Polish noble family, painting portraits and religious frescoes, including work for the Carmelite church. Back in Bologna he joined the city's Accademia Clementina in 1739 and was twice elected its head, in 1754 and 1770. Among his pupils was Anna Morandi Manzolini, who became famous for her anatomical models in wax.