Giovanni Battista Sommariva

Giovanni or Gian Battista Sommariva (died 6 January 1826, Milan) was an Italian politician of the Cisalpine Republic and a notable arts patron.

Bust of G.B. Sommariva by Bertel Thorvaldsen, 1817

Born in 1762 in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, he practiced as a lawyer in Lombardy when he was recruited to become secretary general of the directory of the Cisalpine Republic. In 1799, he fled from Milan to France to escape the armies of Suvorov, but returned after the Battle of Marengo.^[1] His notable collection of Neoclassical art is exhibited at the Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo.