Engraver Francesco Bartolozzi was born on 21 September 1727 in Florence. His father was a goldsmith, but Francesco chose a different career. He studied engraving in Venice. Having spent some time in Rome, he left for London in 1764 where he lived for nearly forty years producing an enormous number of engravings. He first stayed at lodgings in Warwick Street, Soho. In 1780 he was financially secure enough to move to North End, Fulham. Soon after arriving in the capital, he was appointed Engraver to the King. He was elected a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768, and in 1802 became the founding President of the short-lived Society of Engravers. That same year, he accepted accepted the post of director of the National Academy of Lisbon where he died in March 1815. His son Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi was an engraver and art dealer in London.
