Antonio Verrio (1636-1707)

• Was an Italian painter.
• Verrio served the Crown over a thirty-year period.
• Verrio, born in Lecce, Kingdom of Naples.
• He was a pupil of Giovanni Andrea Coppola.
• Around 1665, Verrio moved to the region of Toulouse where he was commissioned to decorate the Château de Bonrepos.
• In March 1672, Verrio crossed the Channel on the recommendation of Ralph Montagu, who had been English Ambassador Extraordinary in Paris.
• Verrio made his English debut working for aristocrats such as the 1st Earl of Arlington and the 1st Duke of Lauderdale, and rapidly acquired the royal patronage of Charles II.
• Verrio, who had worked for the nobility while he was employed by Charles and James, returned to his aristocratic clientele.
• He spent the next decade at Burghley House, the property of the 5th Earl of Exeter, and Chatsworth House, the property of the 4th Earl of Devonshire.
• Willliam finally overrode the Test Act and invited Verrio back to court.
• After having worked at Windsor again, Verrio undertook the decoration of Hampton Court Palace for William.
• At his death, in 1702, Verrio continued his royal service and painted for Queen Anne his last royal commission in the Queen's Drawing Room.
• In 1705, Verrio was granted by the queen an annual pension of £200 and allowed to keep his lodgings at Hampton Court.
• Verrio influenced younger artists such as Louis Laguerre and James Thornhill.
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