MARCO BENEFIAL (BENEFIALI). — Painter, born in Rome in 1684, died there in 1764. He is regarded as a precursor of Neoclassicism due to his passion for antiquity and Raphael, which he developed during his early years of study under Bonaventura Lambert, in sharp contrast to the Baroque mannerism of his time. Though not lacking in genius and a sense of color, he adapted himself to collaborate first with the Germisoni in 1711, and later with Evangelista, to whom he ceded the authorship of his paintings. In 1755 he became a member of the Accademia di S. Luca. In the cathedrals of Macerata and Jesi there are two paintings from 1705, and in that of Viterbo ten large paintings from 1727. Other works are in Rome (Villa Panfili, S. Giovanni in Laterano), Siena, Florence, Città di Castello, Arsoli, and Pisa.
BENEFIAL (BENEFIALI), MARCO
BIBL.: Archivio dell'Acc. di S. Luca, Le pompe dell'Acc. del disegno..., celebrated at the Campidoglio on 25 February 1702, Rome 1702; F. Noack, s. V. in Thieme-Becker, III, pp. 321-22; H. Woss, Die Malerei des Barock in Rom, Berlin 1925.