Charles Edward Perugini (1 September 1839 – 22 December 1918), originally Carlo Perugini, was an Italian-born

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

painter of the Romantic and

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

Biography

Perugini was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, but lived with his family in England from the ages of six to 17. He trained in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

under Giuseppe Bonolis and Giuseppe Mancinelli, and in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

under

Ary Scheffer Ary Scheffer (10 February 179515 June 1858) was a Dutch-French Romantic painter. He was known mostly for his works based on literature, with paintings based on the works of Dante, Goethe, Lord Byron and Walter Scott, Macmillan, Duncan (2023), ' ...

. He became a protégé of

Lord Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classi ...

, who brought him back to England in 1863. Perugini may at first have worked as Leighton's studio assistant. Under Leighton's influence, he began as a painter of classical scenes; then "he turned to the more profitable pastures of portrait painting, and genre pictures of pretty women and children." In 1874, he married the youngest daughter of novelist

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, who as

Kate Perugini Catherine Elizabeth Macready Perugini (''née'' Dickens; 29 October 1839 – 9 May 1929) was an English painter of the Victorian era and the daughter of Catherine Dickens and Charles Dickens. Biography Born Catherine Dickens and nicknamed ...

pursued her own artistic career, sometimes collaborating with her husband. Perugini's 1878 picture '' A Girl Reading'', perhaps his best-known single work, is in the collection of the

Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...

. It was bequeathed by James Thomas Blair in 1917. Perugini's portrait of

Sophie Gray Sophia Margaret "Sophie" Gray (28 October 1843 – 15 March 1882), later Sophia Margaret Caird, was a Scottish model for her brother-in-law, the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. She was a younger sister of Effie Gray, Euphemia "Eff ...

, the sister-in-law of

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...

painter Sir

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest s ...

, was for many years mistaken for a work by Millais himself. Perugini and his wife maintained an active social life in artistic circles of their era. He died in London.

Works

*''A Girl Reading'' (1878;

) *''Orange Blossoms'' (1879) *''Faithful'' (1879;

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 ...

, Liverpool) *''Tender Cares'' (1880)"Exhibition of Paintings, Walker Art Gallery: No. III", ''Liverpool Mercury'', 18 September 1880, p. 6. *''Idle Moments'' (before 1885) *''A Summer Shower'' (1888;

Ferens Art Gallery The Ferens Art Gallery is an art gallery in the English city of Kingston upon Hull. The site and money for the gallery were donated to the city by Thomas Ferens, after whom it is named. The architects were S. N. Cooke and E. C. Dav ...

, Hull) *'' 'The Highborn Ladye-Moore' '' (Untraced) *''La Superba'' (Untraced) *''Graziella'' *''A Backward Glance''

Gallery (selected)

Image:Charles Edward Perugini - Kate.jpg, Perugini's portrait of his wife Kate Image:A_Summer_Shower,_by_Charles_Edward_Perugini.jpg, ''A Summer Shower'' Image:A_Girl_Reading.Charles_Edward_Perugini.jpg, ''A Girl Reading'' Image:Perugini ramparts.jpg, ''The Ramparts, Walmer Castle''; Portraits of the Countess Granville, and the Ladies Victoria and Mary Leveson-Gower Image:Charles Edward Perugini - Sophie Grey.jpg, ''Portrait of Sophia Gray''

References

External links

Perugini's ''A Backward Glance''.

The portrait of Sophie Grey.

- Rehs Galleries' biography and an image of the artist's 1902

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

painting. {{DEFAULTSORT:Perugini, Charles Edward 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters British genre painters English portrait painters 1839 births 1918 deaths 19th-century Neapolitan people Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom English people of Italian descent Artists' Rifles officers 19th-century Italian male artists 20th-century Italian male artists 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists Dickens family