Carlo Bossoli (6 December 1815, in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a populat ...

– 1 August 1884, in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

) was a Swiss-born Italian painter and lithographer, who spent his early career in Russia. He is best known for historical scenes from the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

Biography

His father was a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

of Italian origin, working in Switzerland. In 1820, his family moved to accept work in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

.Brief biography
at the Carlo Bossoni website (in Russian) Until 1826, he studied with the

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey The capuchin monkeys () are New World monkeys of the sub ...

. After graduating, he worked in a shop that sold antiquarian books and prints. It was there that he began to draw and sketch. In 1828, he was hired by the Odessa Opera to work as an assistant to Rinaldo Nannini, a stage designer who had studied at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

under

Alessandro Sanquirico Alessandro Sanquirico (27 July 1777, in Milan – 12 March 1849, in Milan) was an Italian scenic designer, architect, and painter. He began his career in conjunction with leading artists of the time such as Paolo Landriani, Giovanni Pedroni, ...

. He began to sell his paintings in 1833. His father died three years later and he found himself the sole support of his mother, his sister and her illegitimate son. Luckily, his work drew the attention of Prince Mikhail Vorontsov, who commissioned him to paint several views of Odessa. Princess Elizabeta was impressed with his abilities and arranged for him to study in Italy from 1839 to 1840. He stayed mostly in Naples and Rome, giving special attention to

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

and

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache ...

and associating with the many British artists who were living there. He returned in 1840 and settled in the coastal resort of

Alupka Alupka ( Ukrainian and Russian: Алу́пка; crh, Alupka; gr, Ἀλώπηξ, Alòpex) is a resort city located in the Crimean peninsula, a territory of Ukraine currently annexed by Russian Federation (see 2014 Crimean crisis). It is located ...

, on the Vorontsov estate. In 1844, at the request of his mother (who was ill), he moved to Milan and opened a studio there. In 1848, he produced popular scenes from "

Five Days of Milan The Five Days of Milan ( ) was an insurrection and a major event in the Revolutionary Year of 1848 that started the First Italian War of Independence. On 18 March, a rebellion arose in the city of Milan, and in five days of street fighting ...

". His mother died the following year, but he remained there until 1853, when an unsuccessful uprising against the Austrians forced him to flee to Turin, which he used as his base of operations for travels to England, France,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, Germany and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swed ...

. During those years, he produced an album of paintings, showing views of

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a po ...

, which was published in London by Vincent Brooks, Day & Son. It proved to be very popular due to public interest in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. Later, in 1859, they commissioned him to produce a series of lithographs depicting the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

which were published as "The War in Italy". After seeing them, young

Prince Oddone, Duke of Montferrat Prince Oddone of Savoy, Duke of Montferrat (Oddone Eugenio Maria; 11 July 1846 – 22 January 1866) was an Italian humanist and philanthropist and member of the Royal House of Savoy. He was the fourth child and third eldest son of King Victo ...

gave him a commission to follow the Piedmontese Army and make a record of its campaigns. The result was an album of 150 tempera paintings and the Prince declared him to be "the painter of our history". He fell ill with a fever at this time and his productivity declined dramatically. He divided his time between decorating his home to resemble the Vorontsov Palace and doting on his nephew. In 1883, at the age of sixty-eight, he married Adelaide De Carolis, who was only twenty-one. The marriage was generally believed to be a financial arrangement. The following year, he died of a heart attack. He was buried in

and a street in Turin is named after him.

Selected paintings

Aula del Senato Subalpino.jpg, The Senate of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

in the Palazzo Madama, presided over
by

Cesare Alfieri di Sostegno Cesare Alfieri di Sostegno (13 August 1799 – 16 April 1869) was an Italian politician and diplomat. He was prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 27 July 1848 to 15 August 1848. Biography Born in Turin, the cousin of poet Vittorio A ...

(1860) Carlo Bossoli - L'armeria del nobiluomo Ubaldo.jpeg, The Armory of the Ubaldo family; raided by revolutionaries. (1848) Bossoli, Carlo - Battle of Solferino.jpg, The

Battle of Solferino The Battle of Solferino (referred to in Italy as the Battle of Solferino and San Martino) on 24 June 1859 resulted in the victory of the allied French Army under Napoleon III and Piedmont-Sardinian Army under Victor Emmanuel II (together know ...

(1859)

References

External links

''The War in Italy''
Day & Son (1859), full text @ Google Books

@ Artisti Ticinesi: Biography with more paintings.

and more paintings @ Libero {{DEFAULTSORT:Bossoli, Carlo 1815 births 1884 deaths 19th-century Italian painters 19th-century Swiss painters 19th-century Italian male artists Swiss male painters History painters Landscape painters Italian lithographers Italian male painters Italian unification Orientalist painters People from Lugano Swiss-Italian people Swiss emigrants to the Russian Empire 19th-century Swiss male artists

Biography

Selected paintings

See also

References

Further reading

External links