Giuseppe Velasco

Giuseppe Velasco (December 1750 in Palermo ; † February 7, 1827 there ) was an Italian painter . He was one of the most important representatives of Mediterranean classicism of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Life

Giuseppe Velasco was the son of Spanish parents Fabiano Ugo de Velasquez and Anna Rodriguez. At the age of 15 he decided to take the Italian name Velasco instead of his Spanish surname Velasquez . For a short time he held the office of Franciscan clergyman before he decided to become a painter. He never left Sicily .

Frescoes, Palazzina Cinese, Palermo

In 1770 he married Marianna Puleo. In 1798 he met Vincenzo Riolo, who married his daughter Anna. For a long time he worked with the architect Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia , with whom he carried out various assignments. These include the Palace of Constantine in Palermo and the Chinese Palace in the Favorita Park in Palermo .

From 1785 to 1790 he worked with the architect Léon Dufourny at the high school of the Royal Botanical Garden of Palermo , where he came to his full artistic bloom. Under the rule of the Bourbons in Sicily in the years 1798–1802 and 1806–1815, his Spanish origins benefited him greatly. So he was in the favor of Vice Chancellor Caramanico all his life, who procured him and Marvuglia various commissions at Bourbon courts. In 1805 he was appointed director of the nude painting department at the Royal University of Palermo.

He was buried in the Capuchin Crypt in Palermo.

plant

Giuseppe Velasco was a student of the Palermitan painters Gaetano Mercurio and Giuseppe Tresca and teacher Valerio Villareales . He devoted himself particularly to religious and mythical representations in oil and made various portraits of mostly Bourbon personalities. He also devoted himself mostly to monochrome fresco painting , where he was very inspired by Raphael . He was very interested in the painter Pietro Novelli , from whom he restored and copied pictures, while significantly developing his skills. His main works are in Palermo, his paintings in all of Sicily.

Frescoes (selection)

• Frescoes in the Palace of Constantine with scenes from the life of the conqueror Constantine
• Frescoes in the Gymnasium of the Botanical Garden of Palermo.
• Frescoes of Hercules in the Hercules Hall in the Palazzo Reale
• Frescoes in the Chinese Palace in the Favorita Park of Palermo

Oil painting (selection)

• Saint Benedict in the Chiesa della Concezione, Palermo 1775
• The miracle of Saint Vincenzo Ferreri in the Chiesa San Domenico, Palermo 1787
• The life of St. Paul in the Chiesa di Malta
• Portrait of Saint Rosalia in the Cathedral of Palermo
• Image of Saint Christina crowned by Christ in the Cathedral of Palermo
• Saints Benedict, Placidus and Mauro in the Church of S. Salvatore in Noto , 1808
• Adoration of the Three Wise Men for the Church of S. Salvatore in Noto, 1808

Portraits

Velasco painted portraits of Giuseppe Ventimiglia , Monsignor Ciafalone, Ferdinand III. , Ignazio Marabitti and the Marchese Airoldi.

literature

• Marcella La Monica: Giuseppe Velasco. Pitti, Palermo 2012, ISBN 978-88-96569-15-3 .

Web links

Commons : Giuseppe Velasco  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Giuseppe Velasco (Page of the Liceo Garibaldi, Italian)
• Giuseppe Velasquez (Velasco) (side of the Palermo Cathedral, Italian)