Tito Lessi (8 January 1858 – 17 February 1917) was an Italian painter of historical subjects.

Biography

He was born in Florence and studied at the

Florentine Academy of Fine Arts The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze ("academy of fine arts of Florence") is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy. It was founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1563, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. M ...

, under

Enrico Pollastrini Enrico Pollastrini (15 June 1817, Livorno – 19 January 1876, Florence) was an Italian history painter and art school director. Life and work He began his training as an assistant in the workshop of a local artist named Vincenzo De Bonis. In 1 ...

and

Antonio Ciseri Antonio Ciseri (25 October 1821 – 8 March 1891) was a Swiss-Italian painter of religious subjects. Biography He was born in Ronco sopra Ascona, Switzerland. He went to Florence in 1833 to study drawing with Ernesto Bonaiuti. Within a year, ...

. It was there that he became interested in history paintings, which was considered especially prestigious, due to the difficulties involved in assuring their accuracy. In 1884, the gallery owner,

Charles Sedelmeyer Charles Sedelmeyer (30 April 1837, Vienna – 9 August 1925, Paris) was an Austrian and French art dealer, collector, and publisher active in Paris from 1866, with premises at 6 rue de la Rochefoucauld. He is credited with popularising the Dut ...

, invited him to Paris, where he painted several small canvases: ''The Testament''; ''Le lever du Dauphine''; ''L'Interrogatorio (The Interrogation)''; and ''Le Lùeur''.Dizionario degli Artisti Italiani Viventi: pittori, scultori, e Architetti
by Angelo de Gubernatis. Tipe dei Successori Le Monnier, 1889, page 360. Some of these were exhibited at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ...

. He remained in Paris until 1896. While there, in 1893, he created his best known work, showing Galileo's meeting with Vincenzo Viviani. It was awarded a gold medal at the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

and went on to obtain other important awards in Munich and Leipzig. After returning to Florence, he began repeating favorite subjects, often making several copies of each, which were mostly sold in France and Germany. For the publisher Alinari of Florence, he made a hundred illustrations for their deluxe edition of the ''

Decameron ''The Decameron'' (; it, label=Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dan ...

'' by

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was som ...

. He died in Florence in 1917.

References

External links

Brief biography
from the ''Enciclopedia Italiana'' @

Treccani The ''Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere e Arti'' ( Italian for "Italian Encyclopedia of Science, Letters, and Arts"), best known as ''Treccani'' for its developer Giovanni Treccani or ''Enciclopedia Italiana'', is an Italian-language ...

More works by Lessi
@ ArtNet 1858 births 1917 deaths Painters from Florence 19th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian male artists Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-19thC-stub