SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Jean-Robert Ango

Jean-Robert Ango, sometimes referred to as Hannibal Roberti, habitually signed his drawings “H. Roberti”, the H referring to his nickname. According to Millon, he learned to draw in France from the painter and engraver Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Non, before finding in Italy, particularly in Rome, the place of his greatest success. Through contact with the works of the Italian Renaissance, Ango developed a practice of copying religious and secular decorative schemes. He worked, among other things, with Jean-Honoré Fragonard on copies of works by Guercino and of Italian decorative schemes.

His work also included printmaking: he supplied twenty-seven etchings and aquatints for Saint-Non’s Voyage pittoresque ou Description des royaumes de Naples et de Sicile, published in Paris by Jean-Baptiste Delafosse between 1781 and 1786. Among the sheets mentioned is Saint Paul et saint Barnabé prêchant à Lystre, held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans: a red-chalk drawing on laid paper, dated circa 1760–1770 and measuring 29.7 × 30.4 cm. Identifying his drawings can sometimes be difficult: they have been confused with those by Hubert Robert, while the signature “Roberti” contributed to their association with the name under which Ango signed. Many drawings have recently been attributed to him, while others have been wrongly attributed to Fragonard. Drawings are held, among other institutions, at the British Museum, the Louvre, the Harvard museums and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

This profile brings together identity references for Jean-Robert Ango and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

1 references are documented at Kornfeld. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.

Sources and references

• Reference record
• Documentary source
• Documentary source

SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19