A Life in Theater and Perspective
Born in Venice, Jacopo Fabris was a painter and theater technician whose career spanned several European courts. His professional journey included serving as a court painter in Karlsruhe for Margrave Carl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach between 1719 and 1721. He later gained a reputation as a theater painter during his six-year tenure at the Opernhaus am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg, starting in 1724. His travels also took him to Mannheim and London, where he worked alongside Georg Friedrich Handel. In 1742, he was appointed theater painter to Frederick the Great in Berlin, where he contributed to the decoration of the opera house on Unter den Linden and a smaller theater at the palace.
The Danish Period and Architectural Works
In 1747, Fabris settled in Copenhagen, where he was tasked with decorating three opera stages: one for Italian opera singers at Charlottenborg, an interim theater for Danish actors at Tjærehuset, and the Komediehuset at Kongens Nytorv. His work in these venues featured decorations in a festive Baroque style. As a prospect painter, he decorated the garden hall at Fredensborg Palace with ideal landscapes between 1750 and 1751, a series considered his most well-known preserved work. Other notable works include:
Fabris was also an instructor, as suggested by his instructional writings on geometric, perspective, and architectural lessons published in 1760. He was buried at the Trinitatis Church cemetery in Copenhagen.
