Adélaïde Ametis or Adélaïde Ametis Frassati (17 February 1877 – 18 June 1949) was an Italian painter who had paintings commissioned by the King of Italy

Victor Emmanuel III Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albani ...

Life

Ametis was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy in 1877. On 5 September 1898 she married Alfredo Frassati who would be the founder of the newspaper ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'' in 1900. The marriage was not happy and the couple competed with each other. It was said that only their children and religion kept them together. The children had a governess and Adelaide is reported to have spent her time in "self affirmation". She was successful and would spend her time visiting the upper classes and smoking cigars. Her husband was said to have romantic interludes and Adelaide's friendship with the painter was a source for speculation. Ametis obtained commissions from the King of Italy

, and she exhibited paintings in the National exhibition in Brera in 1915 and 1916. In 1922, she exhibited at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

Family

From her marriage, her children included a son

Pier Giorgio Frassati Pier Giorgio Frassati, TOSD (6 April 1901 – 4 July 1925) was an Italian Catholic activist and a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was dedicated to social justice issues and joined several charitable organizations, including Catholi ...

, who died of poliomyelitis in 1925, and who was beatified by Pope John Paul II and declared patron saint of sportsmen. Her daughter Luciana Frassati Gawronska, a writer and author, was born on 18 August 1902 (died 7 October 2007), and was the mother of Italian MEP and parliamentarian Jas Gawronski. After her son's death in 1925, he was placed in the family crypt in Pollone and Ametis decorated the walls. After her son was beatified, his body was removed. On the death of Luciana in 2009, she was placed in the crypt's vacant position.

References

20th-century Italian women painters 1877 births 1949 deaths Painters from Turin 20th-century Italian women artists {{Italy-painter-19thC-stub