Antonio Basoli (1774–1848) was an Italian painter, interior designer, scenic designer, and engraver, active mostly in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Biography

He was born in Castel Guelfo. His first teacher was his father, Lelio Andrea Basoli. His education was motivated by an insatiable and constant interest in classic art, classic and contemporary literature, and the works, decorations and inscriptions of Piranesi. He often worked alongside his brothers, Francesco and Luigi Basoli. In 1803 till his death he became docent of ornamentation and the next year, professor at the Accademia delle Arti di Bologna until 1826. During his time at the ''Accademia'' he developed a close friendship with fellow pupils Domenico Corsini and Pelagio Palagi. He worked for a time in the studio of Petronio Fancelli.

Works

In 1801–1803, he painted frescoes at a few sites in the Friuli, including casa Muratori in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

and a palace in Spilimbergo. Basoli worked as a set and curtain (sipario) designer, as well as decorator for various theaters around Bologna such as the Marsigli Rossi Theater, the

Teatro Comunale di Bologna The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season. While there had been various theatres presenting opera in Bologna since the early ...

, and, in particular, the Contavalli Theater (1814). Sadly most of his works survive only through references to them such as detailed production sketches, watercolors and engravings, among which the aquatints from ''Collezione di varie scene teatrali,'' started in 1821. In addition to his decorations at these theaters he also decorated the Palazzo Rosselli del Turco, Palazzo Sanguinetti and Palazzo Hercolani. Basoli was also offered commissions for scenography from theaters in Rome in 1815, and from Naples, by request of

Gioacchino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

, in 1818 both of which he refused. However, in 1818 he did decide to take a trip to Milan, where he visited the ''sala Sanquirico'' the studio of the most important scenic designer of

la Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

from which Basoli found inspiration for the set design for the opera

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Sémiramis (tragedy), Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first ...

in 1820, the set for a production of

Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...

at the Theater Contavalli in 1822, and lastly, the background paintings for the scenes at the Theater of Cavalieri dell’Unione in

Santarcangelo di Romagna Santarcangelo di Romagna () is a ''comune'' in the province of Rimini, in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, on the '' Via Emilia''. As of 2009, it had a population of some 21,300. It is crossed by two rivers, the and the Marecchia. The muni ...

in 1822. During this same period he produced, amongst others, important works at the villa Marescalchi, and the Palazzo Baciocchi. Among his exhibitions at the Academy of Bologna were a collections of Romantic canvases with exotic themes. For example, in 1842, he exhibited a series of 16 oil paintings ''più affascinanti e immaginifici'' (very fascinating and imaginative), depicting: the four

Colossi of Memnon The Colossi of Memnon ( or ''es-Salamat'') are two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which stand at the front of the ruined Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, the largest temple in the Theban Necropolis. They have stood since 1 ...

in Egypt; the port of Rhodes (likely including the colossus); Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon (likely including hanging gardens), the famous Equestrian Statue of

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

in Rome (destroyed in antiquity during his damnatio memorie). Paintings depicted four parts of the globe: Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; and five famous ancient temples: including Osiris and Isis in Egypt, Foo temple in China, Zeus in Olympia, Diana in Ephesus. They also depicted a city of Pegù, now

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, an Arab Tomb, the great hall of Charlemagne, and the magic palace of the sorceress

Alcina ''Alcina'' (Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis, HWV 34) is a 1735 opera by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of ''L'isola di Alcina'', a work set to music in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he had acquired a year later during his t ...

. Typical of his designs, merging art and erudition, he later created 26 vignette compositions, depicting an archeologic alphabet in form of watercolors, called his ''Alfabeto pittorico''.Memoria di Bologna
short biography by Roberto Martorelli.

Publications

* ''Raccolta di prospettive serie, rustiche e di paesaggio'' (1810) * ''Guarnizioni diverse di maniera antica'' (1814) * ''Porte della città di Bologna'' (1817) * ''Esemplare di Elementi d'Ornato che contiene lo studio della pianta d'accanto'' (1817) * ''Collezione di varie scene teatrali'' (1821) * ''Compartimenti di camere'' (1827) * ''Vedute pittoresche della città di Bologna'' (1833) * ''Definizioni geometriche'' (1837) * ''Raccolta di diversi ornamenti'' (1838) * ''Alfabeto pittorico'' (1839)

References

* *
Smithsonian Museum
collection of Basoli's works.

External links

* Comune (municipality) of Castel Guelfo di Bolognabr>Antonio Basoli, ornatista, scenografo, pittore di paesaggio – exhibition
at the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna 15 April 2008 in collaboration with the comune (municipality) of

br>
*Link to over 200 pictures of Basoli's wor

* Basoli's Alphabe

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basoli, Antonio 1774 births 1848 deaths 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 19th-century Italian painters Italian etchers 19th-century etchers Italian scenic designers Painters from Bologna Academic staff of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna 19th-century Italian male artists 18th-century Italian male artists Artists from the Papal States