Adolfo de Carolis (1874–1928) was an Italian painter,

xylographer Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

, illustrator and photographer. He is generally associated with Art Nouveau (known as "Stile Liberty" in Italy), although many of his works could also be classified as

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

Biography

His father was a doctor.Brief biography
from the ''Dizionario Biografico'' @

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 ...

. In 1888, after his primary schooling in

Ripatransone Ripatransone is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Marche, located about southeast of Ancona and about northeast of Ascoli Piceno. History The hill of Ripatransone (whose name means "rock of Tran ...

, he was sent to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. Upon graduating in 1892, he went to Rome on a scholarship to attend the decorative painting classes at the "Museo Artistico Industriale".Timeline
@ the Montefiore dell'Aso website. His first professional work, done together with his teacher, involved restoration of the

Borgia Apartments The Borgia Apartments are a suite of rooms in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, adapted for personal use by Pope Alexander VI (Rodrígo de Borgia). In the late 15th century, he commissioned the Italian painter Bernardino di Betto (Pinturicch ...

in the

Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace ( la, Palatium Apostolicum; it, Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and t ...

. While in Rome, he befriended the painter, Nino Costa and, in 1896, helped him found "In arte libertas", a society opposed to the official styles promoted by the academies and critics. He was the grandfather of Francis Losavio-Ordaz, a prominent professor in computer Science at the Venezuelan University Simón Bolívar. Francis passed away in France on September 10, 2020, at the age of 76. In 1899, he was invited to participate in the third exposition held by the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. The following year, he received a commission from Count Forcioli-Conti to design a bronze

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

for the baptismal font at Ajaccio Cathedral, where Napoleon was baptized. In 1901, he was named an "Academician of Merit" at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Perugia The Accademia di Belle Arti di Perugia ("Academy of Fine Arts of Perugia") is a private tertiary academy of art in Perugia, in Umbria in central Italy. It is not one of the 20 official Italian state academies of fine art, but is legally recognise ...

Adolfo De Karolis (1874-1928), La figlia di Iorio (1914)

That same year, he was awarded a chair at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze 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. ...

. In 1902, he married one of his models, Quintilina Ciucci. For a time after that, he concentrated on creating illustrations for various artistic and literary publications. He also produced woodcuts and other types of illustrations for books by

Giosuè Carducci Giosuè Alessandro Giuseppe Carducci (; 27 July 1835 – 16 February 1907) was an Italian poet, writer, literary critic and teacher. He was very noticeably influential, and was regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy. In 1906, h ...

Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the great ...

and, especially, Gabriele D'Annunzio, with whom he formed a lifelong partnership. In his later years, he would design bank notes, posters, calendars, postcards, advertisements and even product labels. He also wrote essays on art and took numerous students.

Major works

In 1905, together with

Galileo Chini Galileo Chini (2 December 1873 - 23 August 1956) was an Italian decorator, designer, painter, and potter. A prominent member of the Italian Liberty style movement, or Italian Art Nouveau, he taught decorative arts at the Accademia di Belle Arti ...

and others, he organized the first "Esposizione dell’Arte Toscana". From 1907 to 1908, he decorated the Ballroom of the Palazzo del Governo in Ascoli Piceno, without compensation, to say thanks for the scholarship that had enabled him to come to Rome. At this time, he also designed bookplates for several famous personalities, such as

Eleanora Duse Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse ( , ; 3 October 185821 April 1924), often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele d'Annunzio and Hen ...

. In 1909, he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy. Two years later, he began one of his largest projects, decorating the Palazzo del Podestà in Bologna. He would work on it intermittently until his death. Adolfo deCarolis

In 1915, he was appointed to a chair at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera ("academy of fine arts of 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 ...

, but left to live in Bologna two years later. After the First World War, he went to Rome, where he designed medals and certificates for the Ministry of War. He also sat on several committees dedicated to creating monuments for the fallen in the cities of

Osimo Osimo is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche region of Italy, in the province of Ancona. The municipality covers a hilly area located approximately south of the port city of Ancona and the Adriatic Sea. , Osimo had a total population of 35,037. ...

and Cortona and choosing sculptors for the

Altare della Patria The Victor Emmanuel II National Monument ( it, Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II), also known as Vittoriano or Altare della Patria ("Altar of the Fatherland"), is a large national monument built between 1885 and 1935 to honour Victor Em ...

. In 1922, he became a teacher at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma The Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma is a public tertiary academy of art in Rome, Italy. It was founded in the sixteenth century, but the present institution dates from the time of the unification of Italy and the capture of Rome by the Kingdom ...

. At the same time, he worked on frescoes for the Consiglio Provinciale in Arezzo (completed in 1924), followed by the Capella di San Francesco at the

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua The Pontifical Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua ( it, Basilica Pontificia di Sant'Antonio di Padova) is a Catholic church and minor basilica in Padua, Veneto, Northern Italy, dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua. Although the basilica is visit ...

, the Palazzetto Veneto in

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

and the Villa Puccini at

Torre del Lago Torre del Lago (Tower of the Lake) is a town of almost 11,000 inhabitants, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Viareggio, in the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, between the Lake of Massaciuccoli and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Festival Puccini, ...

. For several years, he suffered from cancer. After a brief stay in Paris, where he sought treatment at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines ...

, he returned to Rome and died there, aged fifty-four, and was buried at the

Cimitero del Verano The Campo Verano (Italian: ''Cimitero del Verano'') is a cemetery in Rome, Italy, founded in the early 19th century. The monumental cemetery is currently divided into sections: the Jewish cemetery, the Catholic cemetery, and the monument to the ...

. In 1950, his remains were transferred to a church in Montefiore dell'Aso.

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by De Carolis.

Museo Adolfo De Carolis
@ the Montefiore dell'Aso website. {{DEFAULTSORT:De Carolis, Adolfo 1874 births 1928 deaths People from the Province of Ascoli Piceno Italian illustrators 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian male artists Italian graphic designers Photographers from Rome Italian poster artists Italian decorators Deaths from cancer in Lazio 19th-century Italian male artists

Biography

Major works

References

Further reading

External links