Amedeo Simonetti (8 April 1874,

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

- 22 April 1922,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) was an Italian painter; known primarily for his Orientalist scenes. He was sometimes referred to by his childhood nickname, Momo.

Biography

He came to the career of artist late, and was first inspired by the example of his uncles,

Ettore Ettore is a given name, the Italian version of Hector. People *Ettore Arrigoni degli Oddi (1867–1942), Italian naturalist *Ettore Bassi (born 1970), Italian actor and television presenter *Ettore Bastianini (1922–1967), Italian opera singer *Et ...

, an Orientalist painter, and Attilio, a former associate of the Spanish artist, Mariano Fortuny. After taking some introductory art lessons from Ettore, he studied at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma The Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma is a public tertiary academy of art in Rome, Italy. It was founded in the sixteenth century, but the present institution dates from the time of the unification of Italy and the capture of Rome by the Kingd ...

with , known as "Il Grillo" (the cricket), who specialized in historical and

genre Genre () is any form or type 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 ...

scenes. He began by painting the countryside in the vicinity of

Prati Prati is the 22nd ''rione'' of Rome, identified by the initials R. XXII. It belongs to the Municipio I since 2013, while previously, along with Borgo and '' quartieri'' Trionfale and Della Vittoria, it was part of the Municipio XVII. Its coat o ...

, a rapidly urbanizing area where the natural scenery was disappearing. Under the influence of his uncle and Costantini, he also produced Orientalist scenes and genre works depicting 18th century figures (courtiers, musketeers and church officials), in lavish settings. In 1919, by invitation of Onorato Carlandi, he joined an artists' society known as the "", devoted to the free pursuit of artistic expression, and much informal socializing. Later, he brought his son, into the organization. He participated in numerous exhibitions sponsored by the (watercolorists). He also had major showings at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, in 1904 and 1908, and at the Milan International in 1906.

Sources

* Aurelio Tommaso Prete, ''I Simonetti: Amedeo'', Accademia internazionale per l'unità della cultura, 1985 * Cecilia Pericoli Ridolfini (ed.), ''Roma e la campagna romana nella pittura di Amedeo e Virgilio Simonetti'', Fondazione Lemmermann, 1986 * Renato Mammucari, ''La campagna romana: immagini dal passato'', Newton Compton, 1991 * Amedeo Simonetti, ''La Roma dei Simonetti: vedute della Capitale tra '800 e '900'', Cromosema, 1999 * Renato Mammucari, "Se non è l'inizio è la fine a dar voce al coro", in: ', 2006

External links

More works by Simonetti
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonetti, Amedeo 1874 births 1922 deaths Painters from Genoa Italian genre painters Italian orientalists Italian watercolourists