Born 1637 in Venice, died c.1712 (?) in Toscolano (Brescia). He was first trained by Matteo Ponzone, then he worked with Sebastiano Mazzoni. Later he was in contact with the group of the so-called “dark painters” (pittori tenebrosi: Langetti, Loth and Zanchi), who greatly influenced him, although his own style does not manifest particularly naturalistic characteristics. Under the influence of Luca Giordano, the great Neapolitan painter who lived in Venice at various periods in the sixth and eighth decades of the 17th century, Celesti’s colour scale became brighter and livelier. Celesti, who was also active in Lombardy, left numerous works which range from altarpieces to religious and secular paintings with historical and mythological motifs. His facial types are very characteristic and he greatly influenced many Venetian painters between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century.
Lit.: Rodolfo Pallucchini: La pittura veneziana del Seicento, Milano 1981; Seicento, Vol. I-II, Milano 1989 (biogr. Mauro Lucco); Settecento lombardo, Editor Rossana Bossaglia & Valerio Terraroli, Milano 1991, pp. 97-100 (biogr. Anna Maria Bianchi) [ex. cat.].