Antonio Mancini

Self-portrait, oil on canvas, around 1872

Antonio Mancini (* 14. November 1852 in Albano Laziale ; † 28. December 1930 in Rome ) is considered one of the most important Italian painters of the Modern .

Life

Mancini was born on November 14, 1852 in Albano Laziale, a municipality in the province of Rome . He was interested in drawing and modeling from an early age. His father showed some of his drawings to Domenico Morelli (1823–1901) and Filippo Palizzi (1818–1899), who recognized the boy's artistic talent and accepted the only 12-year-old Antonio at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli . At the Accademia, the young painter attracted the attention of his teachers with his great talent for drawing. In 1870 Mancini exhibited two of his paintings in the Salon de Paris and received great acclaim. Three years later he completed his art studies at the top of his class and opened a studio in Rome. During this time he joined the verismo movement.

Aurelia, oil on canvas, 1887

In 1877 Mancini traveled to France for the first time, where he met the impressionists Edgar Degas (1834–1917) and Édouard Manet (1832–1883) among others ; their influence can be found in his later works. His friendship with the American painter John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) - who invited him to London in 1880 - was of particular importance .

Mancini's tomb in the Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e Alessio in Rome

In 1881 Mancini often suffered from mental depression , which made it necessary to stay in hospital for several weeks. He then decided to move to Rome, where he lived for the next twenty years and was financially supported by his artist friends. Here he also met the prostitute Aurelia , known as La Cornacchia . She sat as a model for him , ran his household and became his partner. Between 1903 and 1918 they lived in Frascati . After the First World War , Mancini took a position as an art teacher at the Accademia d'Italia , which he held until his death.

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  Boy with Tin Soldiers , 1876

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  Saltimbanco , 1879

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  Aurelia , 1887

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  The Tea Drinker , 1907

literature

• Mancini, Antonio . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 23 : Leitenstorfer – Mander . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1929, p. 604 .
• Ulrich Hiesinger: Antonio Mancini. Nineteenth-Century Italian Master. Yale University Press, New Haven 2007, ISBN 978-0-300-12220-6 .
• Daniela Papenberg: Mancini, Antonio . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 86, de Gruyter, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-11-023252-3 , p. 531.

Web links

Commons : Antonio Mancini  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Antonio Mancini: Nineteenth-Century Italian Master (English)