Giovacchino Toma
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Gioacchino Toma (24 January 1836 12 January 1891) was an Italian art instructor and painter, noted primarily for historic, realistic and
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 ...
subjects in a Romantic style. Toward the end of his life, Toma authored his autobiography, ''Memories of an Orphan'' (''Ricordi di un Orfano,'' Giannini & Figli, 1886) relating a series of memories to his son, Gustavo: his difficult childhood; his tenacity; his desire for redemption; and his civil and political commitment. Together, Toma's experiences imbued his work with an overt melancholy – such that critics commonly described him as "il pittore del grigio", the painter of gray.


Biography

Toma was born to a well-known doctor from
Galatina Galatina ( el, label=Griko, Ας Πέτρο, As Pètro; scn, label=Salentino, San Pietru), known before the unification of Italy as San Pietro in Galatina, is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Lecce in Apulia, southern Italy. It is situated ...
– subsequently to be orphaned by his father at age six and by his mother at age eight. At age ten, he was entrusted to a paternal uncle and rejected – sent first to a convent and then to the free Hospice of
Giovinazzo Giovinazzo ( Barese: ) is a town, ''comune'' (municipality) and former bishopric within the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia region, southeastern Italy. History It was a small fortified centre of the Romans, who called it Natolium, maybe buil ...
, a poorhouse. There, Toma learned to draw, making a number still life sketches. He was otherwise self-taught. After leaving the hospice, Toma severed ties with his family at age 18, and fled in 1855 to Naples. There, Toma apprenticed with painter Alessandro Fergola and
Domenico Morelli Domenico Morelli (4 August 182313 August 1901) was an Italian painter, who mainly produced historical and religious works. Morelli was immensely influential in the arts of the second half of the 19th century, both as director of the Accademia di ...
, producing sketches and becoming proficient in ornamental paintwork. From 1854 to 1855, he worked as an ornamental painter in Naples. In 1857, he was suspected of being an Anti-Bourbon conspirator and was exiled to Piedimonte d'Alife.Brief biography
from the ''Enciclopedia Italiana'' @
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 ...
.
While there, he first took up painting seriously, producing a portrait of the Duke of
Laurenzana Laurenzana ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the region of Basilicata (southern Italy). It rises on a spur between the torre Camastro and the wood surrounding the Serrapotamo valley. History Laurenzana's origins ...
and noted
still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
works. After 1859, he took part in revolutionary activities, fighting with
Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...
and becoming a member of the
Matese Legion The Matese Legion (Italian language, Italian: ''Legione del Matese'' ) was a group of 240 Italian volunteers that joined Giuseppe Garibaldi in the war for Italian unification in 1861. It was formed in Piedimonte D'Alife, now called Piedimonte Mates ...
in 1860. He held several exhibitions in Naples (1861–62) and Florence (1863), subsequently leaving public life to teach drawing in municipal schools. He began exhibiting again in 1874. Toma became widely known as an art instructor, as professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Naples and honorary professor of the Accademia Ligustica and Director of the School of Applied Design. He was named a knight of the
Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...
. Toma published collections of designs for the manufacture of lace, which were awarded silver medal at the Esposizione Generale Italiana of Turin in 1884. He published a text of elementary design, which included a collection of plant drawings and other drawings in twenty plates. Very near the end of his life, Toma authored his short autobiography, ''Memories of an orphan'' (''Ricordi di un orfano''). Toma's pupils included the noted Neapolitan sculptor
Giovanni de Martino Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
and painter Lionello Balestrieri. Numerous streets across Italy are named ''Via Gioacchino Toma'' after the artist, including two in Naples – in
Vomero Vomero () is a bustling hilltop district of metropolitan Naples, Italy — comprising approximately and a population of 48,000. Vomero is noted for its central square, Piazza Vanvitelli; the ancient Petraio, its earliest path up and down t ...
and Guigliano in Campagnia. Toma died on 12 January 1891, in Naples.


Works

Toma painted a large canvas on the ''Eruption of
Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples The Gulf of Naples (), also called the Bay of Naples, is a roughly 15-kilometer-wide (9 ...
'', also called ''A Rain of Ashes'' (''La pioggia di cenere di Vesuvio''), which was displayed at the Turin Exhibition and donated to the Academy of Florence. It documents a tradition that locals from the areas at the foot of the volcano, during minor eruptions, would parade an icon of
Saint Januarius Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan language, Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Benevento, Bishop of Benevento and is a Christian martyrs, martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern ...
and plead in prayer to be spared greater harm from an eruption. He also painted ''La confessione''.
Angelo de Gubernatis Count Angelo De Gubernatis (1840–26 February 1913), Italian man of letters, was born in Turin and educated there and at Berlin, where he studied philology. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature fourteen times. Life In 1862 he wa ...
quotes a critic, remarking on the latter painting, who called Toma a painter of "...scenes of sacristy, convents, monks, schools, of scenes where the penumbra of the church choir enlivened by flashes of red light from candles and lamps; he is a master at gathering the ecclesiastical countenance in people and things, and of us getting us to gather the sense of the sacred place which spreads with the smell of incense and light governed by the large hanging lamps." While both works depict folk religious fervor, they highlight some of the more primitive and superstitious elements. Among other major works are ''Man Tortured by Inquisition'', exhibited at Paris; ''Clemente VII che nasconde le gioie del Vaticano'', exhibited at the Promotrice of Naples; ''La guardia alla rota dei trovatelli'', bought by the Ministry of Public Education; ''Le orfane'', awarded in Naples; ''La messa in casa'', acquired by the City of Naples; ''l'onomastico della maestra'', donated to the Academy of Naples. His master work ''
Luisa Sanfelice Luisa or Luigia Sanfelice (1764–1800) was an Italian aristocrat who was executed by Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies because of her involvement with the French-backed Parthenopean Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars, although Sanfelice ...
in carcere'' (Luisa Sanfelice in prison) is in the collection of the
Capodimonte Museum Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand House of Bourbon, Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works ...
in Naples, reproduced in the ''Illustrazione Italiana''. This work depicts the former aristocrat in her jail cell in Castel Sant’Elmo, stitching a dress for the child she was expecting. Her decapitation was carried out by order of the restored Bourbon king for supporting the
Parthenopean Republic The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the ...
of 1799.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toma, Gioacchino 1838 births 1891 deaths 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Naples People from the Province of Lecce Italian genre painters History painters Academic staff of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli 19th-century Italian male artists