Stefano Ussi (3 September 1822 – 1901) was an Italian painter, known first for his

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...

s, and later for depicting Orientalist, mostly Arabian and Moroccan subjects.

Biography

He was born in Florence and studied there at the

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 ...

under Enrico Pollastrini. Among his colleagues there were

Pietro Benvenuti Pietro Benvenuti (8 January 1769 – 3 February 1844) was an Italian Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter. Biography Early life and education Born in Arezzo in Tuscany, he was influenced by the style of Jacques-Louis David. He was a student of ...

and

Giuseppe Bezzuoli Giuseppe Bezzuoli (28 November 1784 – 13 September 1855) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassical and Romantic periods. Biography He was born to Luigi Bazzuoli, a farmer, and his wife Anna, née Banchieri. Later, he changed the spelling of ...

. After studying at the Academy, he enrolled volunteer in the first war of independence, during which he was taken prisoner by the Austrian troops. After returning to

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 won the Triennale prize for the painting of the ''Resurrection of Lazarus'' in 1849, and presented works for the following years on historical and literary subjects at the exhibitions of the Florentine Società Promotrice di Belle Arti, which was led by

Filippo Palizzi Filippo Palizzi (16 June 1818, Vasto – 11 September 1899, Naples) was an Italian painter, known for his rural genre scenes with animals, mostly goats. His brothers, Francesco Paolo, Giuseppe and Nicola, also became painters. Biography He was ...

. Associated with the

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 ...

group of painters gravitating around 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 ...

, he achieved great success with ''The Expulsion of the Duke of Athens'' (Florence, Galleria d’Arte Moderna,

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

), exhibited in Florence at the city's first Esposizione Nazionale in 1861 and was awarded a prize 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 ...

in 1867. This painting represents the expulsion in the 14th century by the Florentines of the tyrannical ruler of Florence,

Walter VI, Count of Brienne Walter VI of Brienne (c. 1304 – 19 September 1356) was a French nobleman and crusader. He was the count of Brienne in France, the count of Conversano and Lecce in southern Italy and claimant to the Duchy of Athens in Frankish Greece. Lif ...

and former Duke of Athens. An allegorical fresco (after 1343) of the event had been memorialized in the

Palazzo Vecchio The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...

Orcagna Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (c. 1308 – 25 August 1368), better known as Orcagna, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect active in Florence. He worked as a consultant at the Florence Cathedral and supervised the construction of the fa ...

, who had lived through the events. In Ussi's time, the medieval events took on new patriotic connotations as the Italian Kingdom was being consolidated. Ussi is considered one of the Orientalist painters of the Ottocento. He visited

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in 1869 on the occasion of the opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

, and returned in 1872 by invitation of the

Khedive Khedive ( ; ; ) was an honorific title of Classical Persian origin used for the sultans and grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire, but most famously for the Khedive of Egypt, viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1914.Adam Mestyan"Khedive" ''Encyclopaedi ...

. Along with his friend, the painter

Cesare Biseo Cesare Biseo (April 18, 1843 – January 25, 1909) was an Italian painter, known primarily for his orientalist scenes. Biography He was born to Giovanni Battista Biseo (1815-1865), a decorative and restorative painter from Brescia. He received ...

, and

Edmondo De Amicis Edmondo De Amicis (; 21 October 1846 – 11 March 1908) was an Italian novelist, journalist, poet, and short-story writer. His best-known book is the children's novel ''Heart''. Early career Born in Oneglia (today part of the city of Imperia), h ...

, he accompanied and an Italian diplomatic delegation to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in 1875. De Amicis was later to publish the work of the artists. The numerous drawings he made during these travels provided material for him in later years. The Viceroy of Egypt commissioned a large canvas depicting: ''The Feast of the Carpet or Pilgrimage to Mecca''. In 1880, in Turin he displayed ''La Scorta del governatore Ben Alida ed il giovanetto suo figlio che precedono l'Ambasciata italiana''; ''Moroccan Fantasy in honor of the Italian Embassy''; and ''The Arab Family in the Desert''. In 1881 at Milan, he exhibited ''Celebration of Mohammed in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

'', another orientalist

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

painting. He also displayed ''Un intermediario d'amore''. Among his other works are ''Arab Cavalry''; ''Fantasia araba attorno all'Ambasciata italiana al Marocco''; ''Festa a Fez, data dall'Imperatore del Marocco''; ''Araba al fonte''; and ''Un Dervish in pompa solenne''. His painting of ''Donna araba al pozzo'' (1880) is displayed in the Museo Borgogna of

Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC. ...

.Museo Borgogna
''Donna araba al pozzo''. He died in Florence.

Selected paintings

File:Stefano Ussi - The Execution of Savonarola - WGA24194.jpg, The Execution of

Savonarola Savonarola is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), Italian Dominican friar and reformer * Michele Savonarola (1385–), Italian physician, humanist and historian {{Surname, 2=Italian-la ...

File:Stefano Ussi - La prieghiera nel deserto.jpg, Preacher in the Desert File:Stefano Ussi, La Pia de' Tolomei.jpg, Pia de' Tolomei File:Artgate Fondazione Cariplo - Ussi Stefano, Beduini a cammello.jpg, Bedouin on Camel File:Stefano Ussi, La cacciata del Duca d’Atene da Firenze (1860, Galleria d’Arte moderna di Palazzo Pitti, Firenze).jpg, Expulsion of the Duke of Athens

References

* Laura Casone
Stefano Ussi
online catalogu
Artgate
by

Fondazione Cariplo Fondazione Cariplo is a charitable foundation in Milan, Italy. It was created in December 1991 when the Amato law, Law no. 218 of 30 July 1990, came into force. Under this law, saving banks were required to separate into a not-for-profit foun ...

, 2010, CC BY-SA (source for biography).

Other projects

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ussi, Stefano 1822 births 1901 deaths Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze alumni Painters from Florence 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian male artists 19th-century painters of historical subjects Italian Orientalist painters 19th-century Italian male artists Artists from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Biography

Selected paintings

See also

References

Other projects