“Garibaldi” – Oil on canvas by Teofilo Patini (1840-1906)
PATINI TEOFILO. Born in Castel di Sangro (L’Aquila) on May 5, 1840, died in Naples on November 16, 1906. He moved to Naples at a very young age, after graduating in Fine Arts; he enrolled at the Institute of Fine Arts, where Filippo Palizzi was teaching at the time. During the courses he easily won several prizes and finally obtained a pensioner to go to Rome, where he studied deeply the ancient masters and in particular those of the seventeenth century. He also was strongly influenced from Dutch paintings, but, above all, it was the Meissonnier who conquered him. He first dealt, for a short period of time, with the historical picture; then, with his sensitive and scornful soul, as an attentive observer of the events of human life, he gave himself to social painting, expressed with a strong and meticulous verism. His masterpiece is L’erede, which was exhibited in Milan in 1881 and is now found in the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome with Spade and Milk, exhibited in Turin in 1884. Other important paintings of his are: Il Parmigianino; The sack of Rome, of the Municipality of Naples; Art and freedom; Salvator Rosa’s studio, exhibited in Turin in 1880 and in Vienna; Every good boot becomes a slipper; The first riding lesson, which is owned by the baritone Titta Ruffo; Pack animals, sent to Venice in 1887; Rocky landscape, in the M.O. collection of Milan; The riding lesson, in the Borgogna Museum of Vercelli; The country doctor; Belly and heart; The company of death: After defeat; The good ones; The notables of my country; The eagle; The caralluccio; Return to the sheepfold; The chain. Patini also tried, with less success, the sacred subject, and the paintings are remembered in this regard: Gloria del Sacramento; The temptations of Saint Anthony; Christ in the garden; The Redeemer; Christ raises the widow’s son; The Annunziata; Il Purgatorio: The Crucifix; The Guardian Angel; Sant’Antonio di Padova; San Carlo Borromeo. There are also the sketches for the decorations of the Aula Magna of the University of Naples (work that, for the artist’s death, remained unfinished), and the frescoes in the hall of the City Council of the same city. His students include M. Dragonetti Cappelli, E. Rubei, Vittor Scarselli.
Period: 19th century
Measurements: H 50 x L 41 x P 4.5 / Canvas H 39 x L 31 cm
