Luigi Toro (3 January 1835, in Sessa Aurunca – 13 April 1900) was an Italian painter and patriot. He painted historical canvases in a Romantic style.

Biography edit

 
Agostino Nifo at the Court of Charles V (oil 285x396 cm)

Born to a family of little means, Luigi was orphan of father by a young age.[1] In 1853, he attended the Royal Institute of Fine Arts of Naples, and there studied under Giuseppe Mancinelli, Domenico Morelli, and Bernardo Celentano.[2] From 1856 to 1859, he lived in Florence, where he frequented the Caffè Michelangiolo and met painters of the Macchiaioli movement. In 1857, he moved to Rome to work under Francesco Coghetti.[3]

He had moved to Paris for a spell, when in 1859, he moved back to Italy to join the Cacciatori delle Alpi in the battles against the Austrians. In 1860, he joined the expedition of General Enrico Cosenz to join the forces of Garibaldi in Palermo. He joined the Garibaldini in the landings in Calabria, which later he memorialized in the paintings depicting Avamposti de' primi 200 garibaldini sbarcati in Calabria and Garibaldini explorers in Calabria.[4]

After the Battle of the Volturnus on 1 October 1860, he was promoted to be an officer of Nino Bixio. With the Italian unification, he was made a major in the National Guard, and contributed to the efforts to repress brigandage in the South.

 
Death of Pilade Bronzetti at Castel Morrone, 1885 (oil on canvas 400x 610 cm)

By 1870, he moved to Rome, where he opened a studio on Via Margutta #33.[5] In 1873 at the Esposizione Internazionale of Vienna, he exhibited a Riposo di cacciatori (Hunters at Rest).[6] In 1877 at the National Exposition of Naples, he exhibited: Agostino Nifo at the Court of Charles V. he also painted The Death of Pilade Bronzetti at Castel Morrone, in memory of an officer who died fighting at the Battle of Volturno;[7][8][9] and Taddeo da Sessa at the Council of Lyon defends the Emperor Frederick II.[10][11]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Mastrostefano, Maffei, Puccio, 2012, p. 25.
  2. ^ Mastrostefano, Maffei, Puccio, 2012, pp. 28-9.
  3. ^ Borrelli 1921
  4. ^ Mastrostefano, Maffei, Puccio, 2012, pp. 35-6.
  5. ^ Mastrostefano, Maffei, Puccio, 2012, p. 54.
  6. ^ Mastrostefano, Maffei, Puccio, 2012, p. 57.
  7. ^ The Death of Pilade Bronzetti was reviewed by Gabriele D'Annunzio on 10 July 1885 in the journal “La Tribuna” of Rome, the painting was donated to the Reggia di Caserta by Intesa Sanpaolo del 29 September 2017)
  8. ^ Almerinda di Benedetto. "Il Risorgimento sulla tela. La morte di Pilade Bronzetti di Luigi Toro (2011)". I due risorgimenti. La costruzione dell'identità nazionale. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  9. ^ "Alla Reggia di Caserta l'opera di Luigi Toro". Archived from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  10. ^ Mastrostefano, Maffei, Puccio, 2012, pp. 110,116,120.
  11. ^ Un Garibaldino pittore, article by Pasquale de Luca in L'Illustrazione italiana, Part 2, page 16.

Bibliography edit

  • Giuseppe Stopiti, ed. (1885). "Toro, cavalieri Luigi". Galleria Biografica d'Italia. Rome.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Angelo De Gubernatis; Ugo Martini (1889). "Toro (Luigi)". Dizionario degli artisti italiani viventi. Pittori, scultori e architetti. Florence. p. 524.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Nicola Borelli (1921). "Un artista e un patriota dimenticato. Luigi Toro". Rivista Campana, periodico trimestrale di storia, etnografia, lettere ed arte. 1 (4). Maddaloni. republished in "Un artista e un patriota dimenticato. Luigi Toro". Il Mensile Suessano. Vol. XI, no. 112. 1993. pp. 1539–1545.
  • Agostino Mario Comanducci (1945). "Luigi Toro". In Grafitalia (ed.). Dizionario illustrato dei pittori e incisori italiani moderni, 1800-1900. Milan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Mastrostefano, Gaetano; Maffei, Maria Elena; Puccio, Gianluca (2012). Caramanica Editore (ed.). Luigi Toro, pittore e patriota dell'800. Marina di Minturno.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)