Luigi Serra (June 8, 1846 – July 11, 1888) was an Italian painter, known for his watercolors.

Biography

In 1858 Serra began studies at the Collegio Artistico Venturoli, working first under Gaetano Serrazanetti and then under Luigi Busi. In 1863 he was admitted the Bolognese

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

, where he studied under Giulio Cesare Ferrari, Antonio Puccinelli, and

Salvino Salvini Salvino Salvini (26 March 1824, Livorno - 4 June 1899, Arezzo) was an Italian sculptor; best known for his grave monuments. Biography He was born to a family of modest origin. His father wanted him to receive a classical education but, at the ...

, and in 1865 he received a medal for

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. In 1866, he won the Angiolini Stipend, a prize that allowed him to travel to Florence. In Florence, he was a companion of Raffaele Faccioli, with whom he shared an award in 1866. The last years of his scholarship (1869-1870) led him to move to Rome. 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 ...

, he had befriended the circle of

Macchiaioli The Macchiaioli () were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century. They strayed from antiquated conventions taught by the Italian art academies, and did much of their painting outdoors in order ...

painters who frequented the

Caffè Michelangiolo Caffè Michelangiolo was a historic café in Florence, located in Via Larga (now renamed Via Cavour). During the nineteenth century Wars of Italian Independence, it became a major meeting place for Tuscan writers and artists, and for patriots an ...

; yet, unlike those painters, Serra practiced in a

Purismo ''Purismo'' was an Italian cultural movement which began in the 1820s. The group intended to restore and preserve language through the study of medieval authors, and such study extended to the visual arts. Inspired by the Nazarenes from Germany, ...

style recalling Quattrocento painters like

Francesco del Cossa Francesco del Cossa (c. 1430 – c. 1477) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the School of Ferrara (Painting), School of Ferrara, who after 1470 worked in Bologna. Cossa is best known for his frescoes, especially his collaboration with Cosimo ...

Andrea del Castagno Andrea del Castagno () or Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla (; – 19 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian Renaissance painter in Florence, influenced chiefly by Masaccio and Giotto, Giotto di Bondone. His works include fresc ...

Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio ( , , ; born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni; – 1488) was an Italian sculptor, painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the ...

, and Pollaiolo. In the early 1870s Serra joined a city council for education led by Giosue Carducci and Raffaele Belluzzi. Serra along with the lawyer Ulisse Sartori, represented the Societies of Artists and Fine Arts. In 1870 at Parma, he exhibited: '' Annibale Bentivoglio, prisoner in the Castle of Varano''. In 1877 Serra moved to Rome, the following year he began studies for the large painting ''Entry of the Catholic Army into Prague'' (event occurring after the

Battle of White Mountain The Battle of White Mountain (; ) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the next three hundred years. It was fought on 8 November 16 ...

) for the apse of the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. That church was founded in celebration of that event. In 1883, he exhibited that painting in Rome. Among his watercolors: ''Mezzogiorno''; ''Dal Colosseo'' (1884, exhibited at Mostra of Fine Arts in Turin); and the sketch ''

San Carlo ai Catinari San Carlo ai Catinari, also called Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari ("Saints Blaise and Charles at the Bowl-Makers"), is an early-Baroque style church in Rome, Italy. It is located on Piazza Benedetto Cairoli, 117 just off the corner of Via Arenu ...

''. In 1873, accompanied by Mario De Maria, Paolo Bedini, and Raffaele Faccioli, Serra travelled to the International Exposition of Vienna. In 1874 he travels to Turin, and meets

Marco Calderini Marco Calderini (Turin, 20 July 1850 - Turin, 26 February 1941) was an Italian painter, mainly of land- and cityscapes (vedute) in a Romanticism, Romantic style. He studied at the Accademia Albertina of Turin under Enrico Gamba, Gamba, Andrea Gas ...

, and the next year wins another three-year stipend. In 1875, after three years, Serra finished his ''Allegory of the Arts'' for the sipario (theater curtain) for Theater of

Fabriano Fabriano is a town and ''comune'' of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Fossato di Vico and east of Gubbio (both in U ...

. In 1880, he returned to finish further painting of allegorical figures for the ceiling of the Theater Gentile in Fabriano. Back in Rome, displayed some sketches in the competition for the decoration of the so-called "Yellow Hall" of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Despite the considerable efforts made by Serra, studying Roman history and making preparatory sketches, he lost the commission to

Cesare Maccari Cesare Maccari (; 9 May 1840 – 7 August 1919) was an Italian painter and sculptor, most famous for his 1888 painting ''Cicerone denuncia Catilina'' (usually translated as ''Cicero Accuses Catiline'' or ''Cicero Denounces Catiline''). Early li ...

. In 1882 his ''Apparition of the Virgin to Saints Francis and Bonaventure'', commissioned by the Padri Reformati of the Church of the Crucifix located on via del Cestello, Bologna. Between 1882 and 1883 Serra was collaborator under the pseudonym ''L'imbianchino'' to the magazine ''Cronaca Bizantina'' published by Angelo Sommaruga. Serra continued to publish articles and correspondences for periodicals until 1877. In 1881, Serra was appointed academic correspondent of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. In 1888, he also exhibited in Bologna paintings depicting antique sites demolished in Rome with urban renewal. In 1884, his portrait of Signora Deserti, despite four months of effort, was declined. He also lost a commission for painting the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

for the church of San Gioacchino in Turin. In 1884 he submitted two watercolors at the Turin Exposition. By 1885, he had moved to Rome, painted the canvas ''I Coronari'', sold through the Florentine Gallery of

Luigi Pisani Luigi Pisani (1522 – 3 June 1570) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. He was the son of Giovanni Pisani, an Ambassador of Venice to France. His uncle, his mother's brother was the Doge of Venice, and another uncle, his father's br ...

. In 1886, he painted a large

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 ...

canvas depicting ''

Irnerius Irnerius ( – after 1125), sometimes referred to as ''lucerna juris'' ("lantern of the law"), was an Italian jurist, and founder of the School of Glossators and thus of the tradition of medieval Roman Law. He taught the newly recovered Roman ...

glosses (elucidates) the

Justinian Code The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, enacted from 529 to 534 by order of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. It is also sometimes referred ...

'' for the ceiling of the council chamber of the Province of Bologna located in the

Palazzo d'Accursio 260px, Palazzo d'Accursio. Palazzo d'Accursio (or Palazzo Comunale) is a palace once formulated to house major administrative offices of the city of Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located on the Piazza Maggiore, and is the city's ...

. In 1888 he completes the portrait of Mrs. Enrica Whiting and studies for a painting St

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (; ; ) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was a saint of Bohemia (a western part of what is now the Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts st ...

, commissioned by Prince

Torlonia 200px, Coat of arms of the House of Torlonia, part of the History_of_Auvergne.html" ;"title="Italian nobility of French descent, hailing from the region of History of Auvergne">Auvergne The House of Torlonia, the Princes of Civitella-Cesi, is th ...

for the family chapel in

San Giovanni Laterano The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (officially the ''Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of A ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serra, Luigi 1846 births 1888 deaths 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Bologna Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna alumni 19th-century Italian male artists