Giacomo Amiconi, a Venetian painter, went to England, in 1729, where he
was first employed by Lord Tankerville to paint the staircase of his
palace in St. James' Square. He there represented the stories of
Achilles, Telemachus and Tiresias, which gained him great applause. When
he was to be paid, he produced his bills of the workmen for scaffolding,
materials, &c., amounting to £90, and asked no more, saying that he was
content with the opportunity of showing what he could do. The peer,
however, gave him £200 more. This brought him into notice, and he was
much employed by the nobility to decorate their houses.