Duilio Cambellotti (10 May 1876 – 31 January 1960) was an Italian applied artist, illustrator, painter, sculptor and designer who played a role in the

Arts & Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

and

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

movements, and whose influence was social and political as well as aesthetic and artistic. He is recognized for his versatility across a spectrum of visual and design disciplines, and for his fidelity to agrarian themes. Cambelotti was born in Rome. He received a diploma in accounting, but soon after receiving it he enrolled at an applied arts education program at the Industrial Artistic Museum in Rome,Entry on Cambellotti from ''Treccani, the Italian Encyclopedia'' online
/ref> where he learned metal engraving. He also travelled to

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 ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

to learn more.Cambellotti biography at ''Galleria d'Arte Russo''
Retrieved 29 December 2013. He was a proponent of the ideas of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

, and like Morris believed in the need to restore craftsmanship and quality to visual art, ornamentation and design. Cambellotti was also drawn to the visual vocabulary of

. He produced illustrations in that style for magazines, books and newspapers, and his

furniture design Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating ( tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furniture is also used to hold objects ...

(he was known for "Cambellotti lamps" and tables) is considered emblematic of Art Nouveau concepts. His gifts were recognized and his illustrations of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

won the Alinari Prize in 1901Article on Cambellotti from ''Musei de Villa Torloni''
- Retrieved 27 December 2013 while he was still in his twenties. He discovered theater production and set design a few years later and quickly established a name for himself in that area as well. Yet another medium he that suited his sensibility and talents was stained glass, and from 1910 into the 1920s he exhibited notable

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

works, in addition to being one of the organizers for the shows themselves. Throughout his career he was aware of the social significance of decoration and, influenced by William Morris, he became a leading figure among artists who were intellectually and aesthetically trying maintain a connection with the organic immediacy of style found in traditional handmade objects and in traditional pictorial coherence, as opposed to the slick surfaces and machine-like images inspired by the

Industrial Era The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. Cambellotti found much to admire in the theories of "rational beauty" advocated by

Henry van de Velde Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium ...

, one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium, but at the same time the Italian artist remained loyal to agrarian motifs, and to a non- anthropotechnic, undisrupted relationship with natural forms. The most frequent motif in his works is an ear of corn. He is classed along with Vittorio Grassi (1878–1958) as a leading proponent of the ''Scuola Romana'' (as a branch of Art Nouveau), and he steadfastly celebrated the "heroic atmosphere" of the peasant culture over the decadence of cities. Duilio Cambellotti died in Rome on 31 January 1960. The life of Duilio Cambellotti spanned revolutions introduced by the Industrial Era and automation, which were accompanied by the emergence of modern

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

, the rise and fall of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

in Italy, and more; all these changes are reflected in his entire ''oeuvre'' in some way. Cambellotti was interested in his home city of Rome not only via the agricultural world which supported it from its beginnings, but also in its spiritual and mythographic history. He had mastered the traditional medium of

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

and he created memorable historical and mythological paintings using it—the Roman Legends series, as well as the original tempera works from which the posters of the Greek Theater in

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

were printed—and such landmark achievements are still exhibited in prominent galleries (for example the Galleria Sperone Westwater in

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

, Dec 2-13 - Jan 2014).''Galleria Sperone Westwater'' (Lugano, Switzerland) description of Duilio Cambellotti exhibition
/ref> The most complete expression of Cambellotti's mature architectural and interior design style is to be found in the Palazzo dell'Acquedotto ("The Water Museum")''The Water Palace'' in Bari, Apulia
- decorated by Cambellotti in the city of

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, capital of the

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

region of Italy. There is also a Duilio Cambellotti MuseumPDF referencing the Cambellotti Museum in the city of Latina, see p. 30
/ref> in the city of

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

, located about 40 mi. south of Rome.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cambellotti, Duilio 1876 births 1960 deaths Italian furniture designers 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian genre painters Italian socialists Art Nouveau illustrators Art Nouveau sculptors Art Nouveau painters Art Nouveau designers Painters from Rome Italian stamp designers 19th-century Italian male artists