Enrico Gamba (3 June 1831, in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

– 19 October 1883, in Turin) was an Italian painter of

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

scenes, period pieces and a few portraits.

Biography

His father worked for the Royal Accounting Office. He was the younger brother of

Francesco Gamba Francesco Gamba (December 21, 1818 – May 10, 1887) was an Italian painter, mainly of seascapes. Biography He was born in Turin to Alberto, a main auditor for the Court of King Charles Albert of Sardinia. His father was named Baron in 1835. ...

, who was already well-established as a painter when Enrico was a boy. At the age of twelve, he was enrolled at the

Accademia Albertina The Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti ("Albertina Academy of Fine Arts") is an institution of higher education in Turin, Italy History In the first half of the seventeenth century, there was a "University of Painters, Sculptors and Architects" ...

, where he studied with Michele Cusa, Giovanni Marghinotti and Carlo Arienti.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 en ...

In 1850, he went to Germany, where he studied at the

Städelschule The Städelschule (), Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 students of visual a ...

in Frankfurt with

Eduard von Steinle Eduard von Steinle (2 July 1810 – 19 September 1886) was a historical painter and member of the Nazarene movement. Life He was born 2 July 1810 in Vienna. Steinle came successively under the influence of the painters Leopold Kupelwieser, ...

. After graduating, he toured Northern Europe with his friend, the English painter

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...

, then returned to Italy, where they frequented the

Antico Caffè Greco The Antico Caffè Greco (; sometimes simply referred to as ''Caffè Greco'') is a historic landmark café which opened in 1760 on Via dei Condotti in Rome, Italy. It is the oldest bar in Rome and second oldest in Italy, after Caffè Florian in ...

and came to be influenced by Friedrich Overbeck. His first major exhibitions were in 1854, at the "Promotrice di Torino", and 1855 at the "Esposizione di Brera", where he presented one of his best-known works, ''Titian's Funeral'', which was bought by the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

. That same year, he visited Leighton's studio in Paris and obtained a teaching position at the Albertina. Three of his best-known students there were ,

Giovanni Battista Quadrone Giovanni Battista Quadrone (1844 – November 23, 1898) was an Italian painter, mainly of genre scenes. Biography He was a resident of Turin. He was born to a relatively wealthy family of marble merchants. His family encouraged his art studies, ...

and Canuto Borelli. In 1860, the Ministry of Public Instruction commissioned him to paint a scene of King

Victor Amadeus II Victor Amadeus II (Vittorio Amedeo Francesco; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of Prince of Piedmont, Duke of Montferrat, Marquis of Saluzzo and Count of Aosta, Moriana and Nice. Louis XIV ...

giving aid to the victims of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

. The painting, completed in 1864, was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in 1867. Gamba-Goldoni

Following Italian unification, he devoted himself primarily to institutional work involving patriotic scenes from the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

period. In 1872, he created another well-known work, showing the playwright

Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

studying the common people for inspiration. It was presented at a major exposition in Venice. He collaborated with

Andrea Gastaldi Andrea Gastaldi (April 18, 1826 – January 9, 1889) was an Italian painter, primarily of historical canvases and portraits. Biography Gastaldi was born and died in Turin, Piedmont. He studied at the Accademia Albertina under Michele Cusa, ...

in restoring the Cathedral of

Chieri Chieri (; pms, Cher) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont (Italy), located about southeast of Turin, by rail and by road. It borders the following municipalities: Baldissero Torinese, Pavarolo, Montaldo Torine ...

and, from 1882 to 1883, painted some

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

for the in Turin. He also painted two curtains for theaters in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and Buenos Aires.

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Gamba.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamba, Enrico 1831 births 1883 deaths Painters from Turin 19th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian male artists Italian male painters Accademia Albertina alumni Academic staff of Accademia Albertina Italian costume genre painters

Biography

References

Further reading

External links