John Francis Rigaud was born of Huguenot stock at Turin, capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, on 18 May 1742. He was originally intended to follow his father into commerce, but, evincing a love of painting, was placed as a pupil with Chevalier Beaumont of Turin, historical painter to the King of Sardinia. After some early ventures in historical and portrait painting, Rigaud went to Italy, visiting Florence and Bologna, where, at the age of 24, he was elected a member of the Accademia Clementina; afterwards he went to Rome, but was recalled to Turin for family reasons. He found plenty of work in Turin, but returned to Rome in 1768 to complete his studies. In Rome, Rigaud encountered the neo-classical painter James Barry among others, and it was perhaps through his influence that Rigaud decided to seek his fortune in England. He arrived in London in December 1771 and was received by merchant friends of his father. He had, however, to face early struggles and was assisted by the sculptor Joseph Nollekens, whose portrait was one of the first pictures exhibited by Rigaud at the RA in 1772. He was awarded the unusual distinction of being elected ARA in November that year, not having yet spent a full year in England. He was confident with both small and large scales as well as popular and unconventional subjects. He found success not only as a portraitist but also as a painter of historical and literary subjects and as a decorative painter, receiving many commissions for ceilings and other architectural schemes. In The Entry of the Black Prince into London with his Royal Prisoner (1774; location unknown) he explored the chivalric legend of Edward, Prince of Wales, an original choice of subject matter for the time. As a portrait-painter, Rigaud ranks high, his portraits being well and strongly painted. The most important among these were a portrait group of Bartolozzi, Carlini and Cipriani, exhibited as Portraits of Three Italian Artists at the Royal Academy in 1777, of which there exists an engraving by John Raphael Smith; and a companion to this, exhibited as Portraits of Three English Artists, representing Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir William Chambers, and Joseph Wilton, the sculptor, which may be seen in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. From 1778 Rigaud painted for John Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery such small pictures as Scene from Romeo and Juliet. He also contributed to Macklin’s Poets’ Gallery. Contrary to the verdict of history, Rigaud felt that his portraits were less important than his history painting. In 1781 he painted a series of small portraits for Captain William Locker, RN, Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital. These included one of Locker’s protégé Captain Horatio Nelson. Rigaud exhibited historical and classical pictures and portraits at the RA for many years, but his most lucrative and engrossing employment seems to have been painting decorative subjects for ceilings and staircases of the town and country mansions of the nobility. Among his patrons were: Lord Melbourne, Lord Gower and Lord Sefton. Rigaud’s most important patron was Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford, for whom he decorated the Pompeian Gallery at Packington Hall, Warwickshire, in 1787. These works were executed in the popular Italian style of Cipriani and Biagio Rebecca, being mostly classical figures, imitations of bas-reliefs, and similar subjects. Rigaud was elected RA on 10 February 1784 and seems to have been popular with his colleagues. He was chosen to be Visitor of the Academy students on several occasions. He continued to contribute regularly to the exhibitions up to the year of his death. In 1794 he won what was probably his most important commission, the decoration of the four pendentives of the Common Council Chamber in the Guildhall, London, depicting Providence, Innocence, Wisdom and Happiness; of these only the preparatory oil sketches survive. In 1795 he was appointed historical painter to King Gustavus IV of Sweden, and was also a member of the Royal Academy of Stockholm. Rigaud’s English translation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Trattato della Pittura was published in 1802. In 1805 he received a commission to paint a ceiling at Windsor Castle, and he also was employed to restore the ceiling and staircase paintings in the old British Museum. Many of Rigaud’s works have been lost and are only known from surviving drawings and prints. Rigaud died at Packington Hall, near Coleshill in Warwickshire on 6 December 1810.