BARTOLOZZI, Francesco, a distinguished engraver, was born at Florence in 1725, or, according to some authorities, in 1730. He was originally destined to follow out the profession of his father, who was a silversmith; but he manifested so much skill and taste in designing that he was placed under the superintendence of two Florentine artists, who instructed him in painting. After devoting three years to that art, he went to Venice and studied engraving under the famous Joseph Wagner. He made very rapid progress, and executed some works of considerable importance at Venice. He then removed for a short time to Rome, where he completed a set of engravings representing events from the life of St Nilus, and after returning to Venice, set out for London in 1764. For nearly forty years he resided in London, and produced an enormous number of engravings, the best being those of Clytie, after Annibale Carracci, and of the Virgin and Child, after Carlo Dolce. A great proportion of them are from the works of Cipriani and Angelica Kauffmann. Bartolozzi also contributed a number of plates to Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery. In 1802 he was invited to Lisbon to superintend a school of engraving in that city. He remained in Portugal till his death, at an advanced age, about the year 1816.