Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti (Turin, 14 April 1764 – Turin, 29 April 1831) was named civil and military architect in 1782 and began to draw views of locations throughout the reign, becoming in 1793 the “draughtsman of views and landscapes” of King Vittorio Amedeo III. He surveyed towns and strongholds, becoming head topographical engineer and, due to his talent, was entered in the “Cabinet historique et topographique“ of the Committee for public health and sent to follow the Italian army in order to illustrate their most important and meaningful victories. He was called on to cooperate, together with Martinel, on the “Map of the Piedmont Battlefields” ordered by Napoleon, preparing, between 1802 and 1805, views of the campaigns of 1796, of 1797 and of 1800 and garnering the appreciation of the Consul Bonaparte and appointments in Paris.
In 1811 he received the Legion of Honour for his views of Italy from the Alps to Naples, then following the army in Russia as well, where he produced other views of battles. After the Napoleonic epoch, King Carlo Felice called the artist back to Turin, naming him infantry major and a member of the Royal Fine Arts Academy. In his final years, after his rigorous and truthful style of painting, he experimented with a more fictional style. In 1826 he was conferred entry in the Military Order of Savoy.
