(b Bologna, ?1634; d Bologna, 4 Feb 1718). Etcher, painter and sculptor, son of (1) Agostino Mitelli. He studied with several prominent Bolognese painters and in 1658 accompanied his father to Spain, petitioning the officials there after Agostino’s death for his back wages. He owes his reputation, however, to over 500 etched prints of contemporary manners and morals. His most renowned series of etchings is L’arti per via (Bologna, 1660; B. 117–57), loosely based on drawings by Annibale Carracci (untraced) celebrating the vendors and artisans of Bologna. A series of etchings after motifs by Agostino Mitelli, Disegni e abbozzi di Agostino Mitelli (B. 164–87), are important in validating his father’s draughtsmanship. Altogether his large print oeuvre, illustrating ceremonies and pageants, warfare, folklore, trades and religious paintings, provides a rich cultural source for contemporary Bolognese life, but as a fairly rare 17th-century Italian political and social satirist he remains relatively unknown outside his own country.

Part of the Mitelli family

• Mitelli, Giuseppe Maria
  • Veronese, Paolo, §IV, 3: Critical reception and posthumous reputation: Influence