Vespasiano Bignami (1841–1929) was an Italian painter, art critic, and caricaturist. He belonged to the

Scapigliatura ''Scapigliatura'' () is the name of an artistic movement that developed in Italy after the Risorgimento period (1815–71). The movement included poets, writers, musicians, painters and sculptors. The term Scapigliatura is the Italian equivalent ...

movement, and helped found ''La Famiglia Artistica''.

Biography

He was born in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

, then in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. Apprenticed to a seller of colored postcards at the age of eight, he spent some time at the

Accademia Carrara The Accademia Carrara, (), officially Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti di Bergamo, is an art gallery and an academy of fine arts in Bergamo, in Lombardy in northern Italy. The art gallery was established in about 1780 by , a Bergamasco collecto ...

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

under Enrico Scuri. In Bergamo, poor, and needing to scramble to make ends meet, he "painted thank-you notes with water-colors; penciled a theater curtain (sipario) for an amateur group; made small paintings of acrobats; made signs for inns and businesses; painted hundreds of cherubs on the wallpaper of a church; made a painted canvas organ cover depicting a twice life-size figure of Saint Cecilia; painted wooden church sculptures, painted glass for

Magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that uses pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lens (optics), lenses, and a light source. ...

projectors, and made many cartoons for frescoes and paintings by classmates". In 1861, he moved to Milan, and made cartoons for the satirical and patriotic ''L'Uomo di Pietra'' (referring to

Scior Carera ; ) and ('stone man'; ) are traditional, popular names used to refer to an ancient Roman sculpture located in Milan, Italy, at No. 13 of Corso Vittorio Emanuele (next to the Duomo).Scior Carera' Before being located where it is now (on the fa ...

). He also illustrated books and journals, and produced industrial art. Esposizione triennale di belle arti a Brera

In 1869, he exhibited at the Brera a painting titled ''Botanical Lesson'', which won the

Mylius Prize The Premio Mylius was an Italian prize for painting. It was established by the Austrian Empire, Austrian industrialist in 1841 and awarded by the Accademia di Brera in Milan, which at that time was under Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg rule. In 1856 ...

. In an exhibition at

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, he exhibited ''Condemned to Death'', which depicts a panic-stricken chicken flapping its wings, beak open, looking in vain for an escape from its fate in a kitchen. He also frescoed houses including the ceilings of the villa in Nizza of architect Maraini (destroyed in fire, 1874). In 1879, he painted ''Four Evangelists'' for the church of Rosazza Biellese. In 1881, he exhibited a painting titled ''Un Trivio'' in the Academy Exhibition of Milan. In 1873, he helped found the ''Famiglia Artistica'' of Milan, which still serves as an association for artists. He was a friend to many artists and helped write biographies of

Francesco Barzaghi Francesco Barzaghi (10 February 1839–21 August 1892) was an Italian sculptor. Biography Born in Milan, Austrian Empire, he had his initial training in the studios of Antonio Tantardini and Alessandro Puttinati. He enrolled in the Accademi ...

and

Cesare Tallone Cesare Tallone (11 August 1853 – 21 June 1919) was an Italian painter. Biography Born in Savona, Italy, and after losing his father at the age of ten, Tallone moved with his mother and sisters to Alessandria, where he became a pupil of the d ...

. He taught at the

Accademia di Brera The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera (), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan's main public mu ...

. He was a member of the city council and a director of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna of Milan. He traveled to work in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital city, capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Costa Rican Central Valley, Central Valley, wi ...

. He died in Milan in 1929. The art critic Carlo Bozzi helped organize Bignami's notes and papers and donated them to the city of Milan, where they are now represented by the Vespasiano Bignami Collection.collection, Vespasiano Bignami Collection

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bignami, Vespasiano 1841 births 1929 deaths Artists from Cremona 19th-century Italian male artists Italian male painters 20th-century Italian male artists Artists from Milan Magic lanterns