Aldo Raimondi (

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, 1902 –

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, 1997), was an Italian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Biography

Born in Rome in 1902, Raimondi began his artistic career there in the studio of

Giuseppe Signorini Giuseppe Signorini (1857–1932) was an Italian painter, mainly of orientalist subjects. Biography He was born in Rome in 1857. He studied at the Accademia di San Luca, and then worked under Aurelio Tiratelli, who introduced him to the very b ...

. He majored in architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts at the age of 22. Between 1925 and 1926 he lived in Milan, where he served in the Italian military; while there, he painted a

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

for a

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

, and restored some of the rooms of the

Palazzo Cusani A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

, home of the Command of the Army Corps. Raimondi moved to

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in 1926, and began to teach in the local Art Institute: there he inserted himself into a difficult environment without much effort, and was quickly befriended by the natives for his extraordinary dedication to his craft and the eye-catching qualities of his character. In Parma, he was commissioned by the mayor to paint some

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

s of the view over the old city, still visible today in the Town Hall, which are proof of his skill as a landscape artist; Raimondi would receive other such commissions both in Italy and abroad later on. In Parma in 1930 he organized his first of many solo exhibitions, both in Italy and abroad. From 1938 to 1940 he replaced

Achille Beltrame Achille Beltrame (18 March 1871 in Arzignano – 19 February 1945 in Milan), was an Italian painter, illustrator and commercial artist. His name is indissolubly tied to the weekly ''La Domenica del Corriere'', the covers of which he drew from ...

as the illustrator of '' Domenica del Corriere'', and later was called to illustrate "The People of

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 ...

." Specializing in watercolor painting, an exclusive piece of his repertoire, in 1939 he was appointed a professor of watercolors at the Academy of Brera, a chair he left immediately after the war to devote himself full-time to making

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s. Later he painted landscapes, animals, flowers and many

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s, including those of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

(1958) and

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

(1966). He also produced some windows for the Seminary of

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

, for the parish of Menaggio in

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

, and the church of San Simpliciano in Milan.

Bibliography

* Catalogo online Artgate della Fondazione Cariplo, 2010, CC-BY-SA. * F. Pestellini, ''Aldo Raimondi e il romanzo dell'acquarello'', Florence, 1966. * A. Raimondi, ''La mia vita per l'acquarello'', Rome, 1979. * S. e S. Minardi, ''I cinque grandi dell'acquarello'', Milan, 1986. * Salvatore Minardi, ''Catalogo Generale'' Vol. 1, Milan, 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raimondi, Aldo 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Academic staff of Brera Academy Painters from Rome Artists from Parma 1902 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Italian male artists