Alessandro Durini, 6th Count of Monza (30 May 1818,

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 ...

- 9 January 1892, Milan) was an Italian nobleman and painter, primarily in

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, depicting historical and

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

subjects.

Biography

He was the sixth of eight children born to Antonio Durini, the former

Podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

of Milan, and his wife Giuseppina née Casati. He was encouraged to become an artist by the Swiss architect, Ferdinando Albertolli, a friend of the family. From 1836 to 1843, he studied at the

Accademia di Brera The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera (), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan's main public mu ...

with Luigi Sabatelli. During his later years there, he decided to devote himself primarily to watercolors. Although discouraged by Sabatelli, he was adamant about making that medium as popular in Italy as it was elsewhere.Biography of Durini
by Gianluca Kannès, from the ''

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' () is a biographical dictionary published in 100 volumes by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1960 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biographies of distinguished Italia ...

'' @

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In 1843, his watercolors attracted the interest of

Karl Bryullov Karl Pavlovich Bryullov ( Bryullo; ; – ) was a Russian painter and draughtsman during the Romantic period, remembered among the greatest visual artists in the history of Russian art. Biography Karl Bryullov was born on 12 (23) December 179 ...

and were exhibited in

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. Later, they were exhibited in London (1849), Nice (1850), Paris (1851) and Vienna (1852). During the

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

, despite his family's position at court, he supported the effort to free Northern Italy from the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. Together with Michelangelo Fumagalli, he created a

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

depicting a major victory against the Austrians. The proceeds from its sale were donated to help nurse wounded soldiers. He was wounded in a skirmish himself, and took refuge in

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with his brother Ercole. In 1852, back in Milan, he married Guglielmina Litta Biumi, daughter of the recently deceased politician (and amateur artist),

Pompeo Litta Biumi Count Pompeo Litta Biumi or Pompeo Litta (Milan, 24 September 1781 - Milan, 17 August 1852) was an Italian historian, genealogist, military officer, politician, and nobleman. Biography The son of Count Carlo Matteo Litta Biumi and Antonia, dau ...

. This resolved several financial issues that had been troubling him since the Revolution, and enabled him to devote his time entirely to art. He continued to exhibit regularly throughout the following two decades. One of his most familiar works, a scene from the youth of the French engraver,

Jacques Callot Jacques Callot (; – 1635) was a baroque printmaker and drawing, draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine. He is an important person in the development of the old master print. He made more than 1,400 etchings that chronicled the life of his peri ...

, was created in 1872. A mere four years later, however, his ambitious historical scene, depicting

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

and the

Siege of Tortona The siege of Tortona in 1155 was the first major military engagement resulting from Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa's ambition to enforce Imperial hegemony in Italy. Background Frederick began his first Italian campaign in October 115 ...

, received lukewarm reviews at best, and his style was judged to be outdated. In 1860, he was one of several artists chosen to create an album of historical watercolors, presented to Marshal

Jean-Baptiste Philibert Vaillant Jean-Baptiste Philibert Vaillant, 1st Comte Vaillant (6 December 1790 – 4 June 1872), born in Dijon, was a Marshal of France. Biography Vaillant entered the French army in 1809 in the corps of engineers. He served in the French invasion of ...

, in recognition of the French contributions to the defeat of the Austrians. Following the establishment of the new

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

, his support earned him several public offices; becoming a member of the Municipal Council in 1862. That same year, he was elected an honorary member of the Accademia di Brera. He was chosen to develop the Italian Pavilion at the

1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan language, Catalan: ''Exposició Universal de Barcelona'' and ''Exposición Universal de Barcelona'' in Spanish language, Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 Apri ...

and, in 1892, received an appointment to the General Council of the

Historical American Exposition The 1892 Historical American Exposition held in Madrid was intended to mark the four hundredth year of the discovery of America. Participants Several countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, ...

in Madrid, but died suddenly before he had taken up his duties.

References

External links

Dizionario biografico universal
By Gottardo Garollo, 1907, page 715.
Palazzo Durini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durini Alessandro 1818 births 1892 deaths 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Milan Italian genre painters Brera Academy alumni 19th-century Italian male artists Artists from the Austrian Empire