Roberto Bompiani (February 10, 1821 – January 19, 1908) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Bompiani was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. By the age of fifteen, he had enrolled at 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; ...

in Rome, where in 1836 he shared a first prize with fellow student in design, Angelo Valeriani. By 1839, he was able to win prizes both in sculpture and painting at the Accademia. He was remarkably prolific, especially as a painter. He is particularly known for paintings of scenes from

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, for which he gained the nickname ''"the Italian

Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

"''. Among his sculptural works, almost all from 1865–1870, are ''Sappho'' ( Palazzo Castellani, Rome), ''Ruth'', and the statuettes ''Amore che cerca chi deve ferire'' and ''Alexander tames Bucephalus''. Among his paintings are a ''Portrait of

Queen Margherita Margherita of Savoy (''Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna''; 20 November 1851 – 4 January 1926) was Queen of Italy by marriage to her first cousin King Umberto I of Italy. She was the daughter of Prince Ferdinando of Savoy, Duke of Genoa and ...

'' (1878) at the Palazzo di Montecitorio; Portraits of the Borghese family; Portrait of Signora Liverani (1866,

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna The ("National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art"), also known as La Galleria Nazionale, is an art museum in Rome. It was founded in 1883 on the initiative of the then minister Guido Baccelli and is dedicated to modern and contemporary ar ...

, Rome); Portrait of Marchese Ferrajoli; Portrait of his wife (1873); ''Diana and Actaeon''; ''Dance'' and ''Tragedy'' for the Theater of

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

; and two canvases for a church in Santiago: ''Ascencion of the Virgin'' and ''Crown of Thorns''. He also painted frescoes in

San Lorenzo in Lucina The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( or simply ; ) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. The basilica is located in Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina in the Rione Colonna, about two blocks ...

; frescoes in

Santa Maria in Trastevere The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere () or Our Lady in Trastevere is a titulus (Roman Catholic), titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the ...

: ''San Romano Martyr''; and the fresco on the portico of the Cemetery of

Campo Verano The Campo Verano (Italian: ''Cimitero del Verano'') is a cemetery in Rome, Italy, founded in the early 19th century. The monumental cemetery covers a surface area of 83 hectares which is currently divided into several sections: the main Catholic ...

: ''Moses' Curse: Death of the First-born of Egypt''. In 1876, at the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

's Centennial Exhibition, Bompiani exhibited a ''Roman girl placing garlands on the bust of his father'' and the ''Suonatore di Tibia (Flutist)''. These were the first of his popular ''Pompeian'' works. He painted ''Catullus at the banks of the Tiber'', ''l'Affissatore pompeiano'', the ''Triclinium'', and a ''partita a gli astragali''. He exhibited at the Mostra internazionale of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

where he won an award for his portrait of Giovanni Battista Canevari (1872), that now hangs at the Accademia di San Luca. He rose to become professor and president of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome.Getty Museum Site Both his son, Augusto Bompiani, and his daughter, Clelia Bompiani, were also painters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bompiani, Roberto 1821 births 1908 deaths People from the Papal States Painters from Rome 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Neo-Pompeian painters Fresco painters 19th-century Italian male artists 20th-century Italian male artists