Domenico Caldara (1814–1897) was an Italian painter, mainly of portraits and

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...

Biography

He was born in

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, into a humble family, but was sponsored by a local aristocrat, Count Varo, to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the main hall of the Casa Siniscalchi in Naples with frescoes depicting ''Apollo with the muses on Parnassus''. In 1854, he was named a professor at the Academy in Naples. He painted for the royal family, including a ''Vision of Christ by St Theresa'' and a ''Glory of St Vincent Ferreri''. In 1859, Queen

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

commissioned from Caldara a life-size death portrait of the King Ferdinand at the

Royal Palace of Caserta The Royal Palace of Caserta ( it, Reggia di Caserta ) is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as their main residence as kings of Naples. It is the largest palace erected in Europ ...

. With the fall of the Bourbon dynasty, Caldara lost his government sponsorship. In 1877, he exhibited a painting titled ''Vecchierella'' at the Esposizione Nazionale di Venezia del 1887. ''Dizionario degli Artisti Italiani Viventi: pittori, scultori, e Architetti.''
by Angelo de Gubernatis. Tipe dei Successori Le Monnier, 1889, page 85. He died in poverty in Naples.

References

1814 births 1897 deaths 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Naples People from Foggia 19th-century Italian male artists Artists from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies {{Italy-painter-19thC-stub