Anatolio Scifoni (
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
, 2 May 1841 - Rome, 1884) was an Italian painter of mainly
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 ...
paintings.
Biography
He was the son of the painter I. Botti and of the poet
Luigi Scifoni. He studied painting first in the
Albertina Academy
The Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti ("Albertina Academy of Fine Arts") is an institution of higher education in Turin, Italy
History
In the first half of the seventeenth century, there was a "University of Painters, Sculptors and Architects" ...
in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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. Th ...
, then in Paris, and then moved to Rome, where he became a friend and follower of
Lorenzo Delleani. In 1860 at Turin he exhibits his first painting: ''La spigolatrice di Sapri''. By 1865 at Milan, he exhibited the small
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 ...
canvas ''Convalescenza e sanità ''.
Once he moved to Rome he focused on Neo-Pompeian themes from ancient Greece and Rome. He called his works ''archeologic painting''. He painted baths, gardens,
triclinia (Antique Roman dining room), and ginecei (women's quarters in Ancient Greece. He spent months among the silent ruins of Pompei, where he imagined girls in fanciful pursuits, provocative and sensual matrons outside in gardens or orchards, or strolling under elaborate arches, or on cushions in aristocratic and mysterious cubiculi.
He exhibits his paintings (almost all small) in Rome, in Monaco, in Philadelphia, in Vienna, in the Salon of Paris, and in the Royal Academy at London. Among his many canvases are: ''Le bolle di sapone'' (The Soap Bubble), bought by Mattia Montecchi (Venice); ''Il recinto dei paroni sacri a Giunone'' (The enclosure of the peacocks sacred to
Juno
Juno commonly refers to:
* Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods
* ''Juno'' (film), 2007
Juno may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters
*Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno''
*Juno, in the ...
, 1867, Florence), acquired by baron Koller of Baden; ''Una offerta ai Dei Lari'' (An offer to the
Lares
Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these.
Lares ...
or Household Gods), awarded a medal at Philadelphia and acquired by James Abbott; ''Cleopatra consults a Seer'' (1870, exposition of the Società Amatori e Cultori, Rome, acquired by the Mr Garnee of New York); ''A Dance Lesson in Pompei'', acquired by Mr Fipping of Sevenoaks, England; ''La missione della Croce'', awarded at the Expositions of Vienna, acquired by baroness Schickler (Paris); ''La vigilia del matrimonio a Pompei'' (The Marriage Vigil), acquired by Mr. How (New York); ''The Fountain of Mercury in Pompei'' acquired by Mrs Scudder of Sacramento, California, ''Il giorno natalizio del padre a Pompei'' (The Birthday Trip of Father to Pompeii), acquired by Mr Head of San Francisco, California; ''
Tepidarium
The tepidarium was the warm (''tepidus'') bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system. The speciality of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from ...
delle Terme di Pompei'', acquired by
Goupil Gallery
Goupil & Cie is an international auction house and merchant of contemporary art and collectibles. Jean-Baptiste Adophe Goupil founded Goupil & Cie in 1850. Goupil & Cie became a leading art dealership in 19th-century France, with its headquart ...
of Paris; ''La Vestale'', acquired by Mr Phillips Phoenix; ''An offer to Diana of Ephesus'', acquired by Mrs M. Graw of Ithaca, New York; ''Il Cottabo'', acquired by Mr Schilizzi of Naples; ''I Saltimbanchi di Pompei Paresia e Ghieria''; ''Le teresiane a Roma'' (1869, Genoa); and ''Frigidarium'' (1877, Paris Salon, and sold in England). His paintings won first class medals at Vienna and Philadelphia.
Scifoni's work found patrons among the royal family. He was knighted into the
Order of the Crown of Italy
The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy ...
. His large canvas of ''Vittorio Emanuele II in Campidoglio'' was commissioned by the artist of the prefect of the Royal House, Prince Doria Pamphili, to commemorate the enthronement of the King in Campidoglio, in January 1870.
Restoration of Vittorio Emanuele painting
at Scuderia of the Quirinal Palace in Rome in 2010.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scifoni, Anatolio
19th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
Neo-Pompeian painters
1841 births
1884 deaths
Accademia Albertina alumni
Painters from Florence
19th-century Italian male artists