Cesare Fracassini (or Fracassi; December 18, 1838 – December 13, 1868) was an Italian painter, mainly of large mythologic or religious topics.

Biography

While he was born to Paolo Serafini, originally from Orvieto; his father died when he was an infant and his mother remarried with a Domenico Fracassini. Cesare was born in Rome, and studied painting there with either

Tommaso Minardi Tommaso Minardi (December 4, 1787 – January 12, 1871) was an Italian painter and author on art theory, active in Faenza, Rome, Perugia, and other towns. He painted in styles that transitioned from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. Biography Mi ...

, or his pupils, before enrolling in the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...

, where he executed several frescoes for

San Lorenzo fuori le Mura The (Papal Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls) is a Roman Catholic papal minor basilica and parish church, located in Rome, Italy. The Basilica is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and one of the five papal basilicas (former ...

. He lived alongside the painter

Cesare Mariani Cesare Mariani (January 13, 1826 – February 21, 1901) was an Italian painter and architect of the late-19th century, active in Rome and Ascoli Piceno. Early life and training He was born in Rome to Pietro and Maria Agnelletti; his father worke ...

as a young man. He often collaborated or obtained commissions with his friend Paolo Mei, as well as a colleague of Guglielmo de Sanctis (a pupil of Minardi) and Bernardo Celentano. He died in 1868. One of his most important pictures is ''The Martyrs of Gorinchem'' (also called ''Canisio e i Martiri del Giappone''), painted for a beatification ceremony in the Vatican. In 1857, he was awarded first prize at the Concorso Clementino. Among his works: * ''St Jerome'', church of San Sebastian on via Appia * ''Daphne and Chloe'' for an exposition in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

* ''Numa takes the counsel of the Egerian Nymph'' (1861), sipario (stage curtain) for the

Teatro Argentina The Teatro Argentina (directly translating to "Theatre Argentina") is an opera house and theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 and inaugurated on 31 ...

in Rome * ''Apollo and Phaeton with the Solar chariot'' (1862), sipario for the Teatro Apollo in Rome * ''Belisarius liberates Orvieto from the Goths'' sipario for

Teatro Mancinelli Teatro Mancinelli is the main theater stage in Orvieto for live dramatic and musical performances. History and description Located at the site of the former Palazzo Orienti, in 1844 a group of citizens proposed erecting a theater at this site. ...

, Orvieto * Canvases for San Lorenzo fuori la Mura. Fracassini was admired for his speed of painting.Giucci, Gaetanno (1872)
"Biografia di Cesare Fracassini, Pittore"
in ''Roma Artistica: Pubblicazione Mensile, Illustrata'', Raffaello Ojetti (ed.), Volume 1, Number 8, pp. 57-60. (in Italian). Accessed 9 July 2013. * ''Madonna del suffragio'' for a church in Albano * ''The Blessed Alacoque'' * ''Madonna degli Angeli'' * ''Portrait of Berchmans''

References

Attribution: *

External links

1838 births 1868 deaths 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Rome 19th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-19thC-stub