Gaspare Traversi (c. 1722 – 1 November 1770) was an Italian

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

painter best known for his

genre works Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

. Active mostly in his native city of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's admini ...

, he also painted throughout Italy, including a stay in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second most ...

. Gaspare appears to have been born to a Genoese merchant living in Naples.Intorno all'ambiente familiare di Gaspare Traversi (1722-1770): documenti inediti dagli archivi napoletani RR Terrone - Kronos, 2009 He appears to have been baptized on February 15, 1722, in the church of Santa Maria dell'Incoronatella in Naples under the name Gasparro Giovanni Battista Pascale Traversa. He trained under

Francesco Solimena Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian painter of the Baroque era, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen. Biography Francesco Solimena was born in Canale di Serino in the province of A ...

. He was a contemporary of other Solimena pupils,

Giuseppe Bonito Giuseppe Bonito (11 January 1707 – 9 May 1789) was a Neapolitan painter of the Rococo period. Giuseppe Bonito is known for genre depictions on canvas. Many of Gaspare Traversi's paintings had previously been attributed to Bonito. Biograp ...

(1707–1789), also a genre painter, and

Francesco de Mura Francesco de Mura (21 April 1696 – 19 August 1782) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mainly in Naples and Turin. His late work reflects the style of neoclassicism. Life Francesco de Mura, also referred to as ''France ...

(1696–1784). He was active mainly between 1732 and 1769. Traversi can be described as a Neapolitan Hogarth, Steen or Longhi, working in a Caravaggist style. Traversi's satirical paintings typically depict animated groups of bourgeois protagonists that seem compressed physically into an indoor pictorial space that can barely contain them. Even his religious canvases have foreshortened crowding. Facial expressions are lively and varied; some of the characters, often children, stare at the viewer. Women are often situated in either a foolish or ironic situation, or engage in a pulchritudinous talent, while men leer or participate with other intentions in mind. One could view these as elaborations of moralistic tales, such as Caravaggio's ''The Fortune Teller'', a topic which Traversi also depicted, but Traversi's living rooms are more densely populated, and the emotions, as well as the situations, teeter awkwardly with imbalance. Although he had no pupils, his influence was significant, and can be seen in the works of Lorenzo de Caro,

and Orazio Solimena.Oxford Art Online: "Gaspare Traversi" Traversi was a focus of a monograph by

Roberto Longhi Roberto Longhi (28 December 1890 – 3 June 1970) was an Italian academic, art historian, and curator. The main subjects of his studies were the painters Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca. Early life and career Longhi was born in December 18 ...

Gallery

Traversi Wahrsagerin.jpg, Fortune-teller & Pickpocket Traversi Operation.jpg, Surgeon inspects Wound Traversi Konzert.jpg, The Concert Gaspare Traversi.jpg, The Drawing Lesson Traversi - La Séance de portrait 02.jpg, Sitting for Portrait Gaspare Traversi - Reading a Letter - WGA23052.jpg, Reading a Letter Gaspare Traversi - Old Man and a Child - WGA23051.jpg, Old beggar with Urchin Traversi Job mocked by his wife.jpg, Job mocked by his Wife Traversi Ermordung Amnons.jpg, Absalom murders Amnon G. Traversi - Margherita da Cortona.JPG, St Margaret of Cortona Traversi Fra Raffaello.jpg, Portrait of Fra Raffaello da Lugagnano Gaspare Traversi-Portrait de Gian Lorenzo Berti-Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg.JPG, Portrait of Gian Lorenzo Berti Traversi Salome.jpg, Judith with Head of Holofernes

Partial anthology of works

Notes

References

* * *Naples Exhibition in 2005 was titled ''Gaspare Traversi. Napolitans of the 1700s between Misery and Nobility'

*Stuttgart Exhibition: ''Gaspare Traversi Amusement in the Shade'

*Parma Exhibition:''Luminary of the 1700s: Gaspare Traversi and his painting in Emilia'

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traversi, Gaspare 1722 births 1770 deaths 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian genre painters Painters from Naples Rococo painters 18th-century Italian male artists