(Joseph), was born at Verona on the 4th of November 1721. His father Lucas Torelli, who was a merchant, dying while young Torelli was but an infant, he was left entirely to the care of his mother Antonia Albertini, a Venetian lady of an excellent character. After receiving the first rudiments of learning, he was placed under the Ballerini, who observing the genius of the boy, prevailed upon his mother to send him to complete his education at Padua. Here he spent four years entirely devoted to study, all his other passions being absorbed by his thirst for knowledge.

The unfilled innocence of his life, and the prudence and gravity of his conduct, soon attracting the attention of his masters, they not only commended him with eagerness, but performed to him the part of parents, conversed with him familiarly about their respective sciences, and read over to him privately the lectures which they had to deliver. This was the case particularly with Hercules Dondinus, under whom Torelli studied jurisprudence. But he by no means confined himself to that science alone. The knowledge which he acquired was so general, that upon whatever subject the conversation happened to turn, he delivered his sentiments upon it in such a manner that one would have thought he had bestowed upon it his whole attention.

After receiving the degree of Doctor, he returned home to the enjoyment of a considerable fortune; which putting it into his power to choose his own mode of living, he determined to devote himself entirely to literary pursuits. He resolved, however, not to cultivate one particular branch to the exclusion of every other, but to make himself master of one thing after another, as his humour inclined him; and he was particularly attentive to lay an accurate and solid foundation. Though he declined practising as a lawyer, he did not, on that account, relinquish the study of law. The Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Italian languages, occupied much of his time. His object was to understand accurately the two first, and to be able to write and speak the two last with propriety and elegance. Besides these languages, he learned French, Spanish, and English. On the last, in particular, he bestowed uncommon pains; for he was peculiarly attached to the British nation, and to British writers, whom he perused with the greatest attention; not merely to acquire the language, but to imbibe also that force and loftiness of sentiment for which they are so remarkable. Nay, he even began an Italian translation of Paradise Lost.

He likewise made himself acquainted with ethics, metaphysics, and polemical divinity; to which last subject he was induced to pay attention by the custom of his country. With ancient history he was very familiarly acquainted, calling in to his assistance, while engaged in that study, the aids of chronology, geography, and criticism. This last art, indeed, by means of which what is counterfeit may be distinguished from what is genuine, what is interpolated from what is uncorrupted, and what is excellent from what is faulty, he carried about with him as his counsellor and his guide upon all occasions.

The theory of music he studied with attention, preferring those powerful airs which make their way into the soul, and rouse the passions at the pleasure of the musician. His knowledge of pictures was held in high estimation by the artists themselves, who were accustomed to ask his opinion concerning the fidelity of the design, the harmony of colours, the value of the picture, and the name of the painter. He himself had a collection, not remarkably splendid indeed, but exceedingly well chosen. Architecture he studied with still greater attention, because he considered it as of more real utility. Nor did he neglect the pursuits of the antiquarian, but made himself familiarly acquainted with coins, gems, medals, engravings, antique vessels, and monuments. Indeed scarce any monumental inscriptions were engraved at Verona which he had not either composed or corrected. With the antiquities of his own country he was so intimately acquainted, that every person of eminence, Torelli, who visited Verona, took care to have him in their company when they examined the curiosities of the city.

But these pursuits he considered merely as amusements; mathematics and the belles lettres were his serious studies. These studies are, in general, considered as incompatible; but Torelli was one of the few who could combine the gravity of the mathematician with the amenity of the muse and graces, and who handle the compass and the plectrum with equal skill. Of his progress in mathematics, several of his treatises, and especially his edition of Archimedes, published since his death by the university of Oxford, are sufficient proofs. Nor was his progress in the more pleasing parts of literature less distinguished. In both these studies he was partial to the ancients, and was particularly hostile to the poetry and the literary innovations of the French.

Nothing could be purer or more elegant than his Latin style, which he had acquired at the expense of much time and labour. His Latin translation of Archimedes is a sufficient proof of this, and is indeed really wonderful, if we consider that the Romans, being far inferior to the Greeks in mathematical knowledge, their language was of necessity destitute of many necessary words and phrases. He wrote the Italian language with the classic elegance of the 14th and 15th centuries. Witness his different works in that language, both in prose and verse. He translated the whole of Æsop's Fables into Latin, and Theocritus, the Epitaphalium of Catullus, and the comedy of Plautus, called Pseudolus, into Italian verse. The two first books of the Aeneid were also translated by him with such exactness, and so much in the style of the original, that they may well pass for the work of Virgil himself.

His life, like his studies, was drawn after the model of the ancient sages. Frugal, temperate, modest, he exhibited a striking contrast to the luxurious manners of his age. In religion he adhered strictly, though not superstitiously, to the opinions of his ancestors. He was firm to his resolutions, but not foolishly obstinate; and so strict an observer of equity, that his probity would have remained inviolate, even though there had been no law to bind him to justice. He never married, that he might have leisure to devote himself, with less interruption, to his favourite studies. Every one readily found admission to him, and no man left him without being both pleased and instructed; such was the sweetness of his temper, and the readiness with which he communicated information. He adhered with great constancy to his friendships. This was particularly exemplified in the case of Clemens Sibilatus, who has favoured the world with the life of Torelli. With him he kept up the closest connection from a schoolboy till the day of his death. He was peculiarly attached likewise to many men of distinction, both in Italy and Britain. He died in August 1781, in the 70th year of his age.

The following is a complete list of his works, his edition of Archimedes excepted, which was not published till after his death:

1. "Lucubratio Academica, sivi Somnium Jacobi Pindeonii, &c." Patavii, 1743.—2. "Animadversiones in Hebraicum Exodi Librum et in Graecum lxx Interpretationem;" Verona, 1744.—3. "De principe Guile incommodo, ejusque remedio, Libri duo;" Colonie Agrippinae, 1744.—4. "De Probabilis Vitae Morumque Regula;" Colonie, 1747.—5. "Li due primi Cantii dell'Iliade (di Scipione Maffei) e li due primi dell'Encide di Giuseppe Torelli tradotti in versi Italiani;" Verona, 1749.—6. "Gli stessi due cantii dell'Encide riattati folo lo stesso anno per lo stesso Ramazzini;"—7. "Scala de Meriti a capo d'anno Trattato Geometrico;" Verona, 1751.—8. "De Nihilo Geometrico, lib. 2;" Verona, 1758.—9. "Lettera intorno a due passi del Purgatorio di Dante Alighieri;" ib. 1760.—10. "Della Denominazione del corrente anno vulgarmente detto 1760 in Bologna per Lelio della Volpe;"—11. "Il pseudolo. Comedia, &c. e si aggiunge la traduzione d'alcuni Idilli di Teocrito e di Mosco;" Firenze, 1765.—12. "Inno a Maria Vergine nella Felicità della sua Concezione;" Verona, 1766.—13. "Lettera a Miladi Vang-Reit premessa al libro che ha per titolo xii. lettere Inglese, con altra lettera all'autore della medesima;" Verona, 1767.—14. "Elegia di Tommaso Gray, Poeta Inglese, in un Cimitero Campestre in versi Italiani rimati;" Verona, 1767.—15. "Geometrica;" Verona, 1769.—16. "Demonstratio antiqui Theorematis de motuum commixtione;" Verona, 1774.—17. "Lettera suprema Dante contro il Signor di Voltaire;" Verona, 1781.—18. "Pommetto di Catullo in le Nozze di Peleco e Tette, ed un Epitafium dello stesso;" 1781.—19. "Gigopi Fabulæ;"—20. "Teocrito tradotto, in versi Toscani;"—21. "Elementi d'Euclide tradotti nell'idioma Italiano;"—22. "Elementorum Prospectiva, libri duo."