Marco Benefial was a Roman painter of Neoclassicism. Benefial's father was a French weaver who had settled in Rome. Marco trained in the workshop of Bonaventura Lamberti, who introduced him to ancient and Renaissance art, which influenced Benefial's development more than the omnipresent Roman Baroque did. Already as an apprentice, he worked with his master in Saint Peter's Basilica. Benefial wanted to exhibit his first independent work at the "Congregazione dei Virtuosi al Panteon" in 1703, but was rejected by the organisers. He then displayed the same painting in the window of a pharmacy and, as a result, received several commissions for altarpieces. After initial success, however, the commissions soon stopped and Benefial had to earn money as a gilder. From 1711, he worked again as a painter, and by this time, Pope Clement XI took notice of him. Commissioned by the Pope, Benefial painted several paintings for Saint Peter's Basilica and San Giovanni in Laterano. Numerous commissions for churches and from the nobility followed, also from outside Rome. In 1746, he was admitted to the Accademia di San Luca. Benefial was an avowed opponent of the Rococo and is regarded as a pioneer of Neoclassicism in Rome. One of his many international pupils was Anton Raphael Mengs.