Michele Cammarano (23 February 1835,

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 ...

- 15 September 1920, Naples) was an Italian painter who was best known for his battle scenes, although he worked with a wide variety of subjects.

Biography

His grandfather was Giuseppe Cammarano, a painter and set-designer, and his father was

Salvadore Cammarano Salvadore Cammarano (also Salvatore) (born Naples, 19 March 1801 – died Naples 17 July 1852) was a prolific Italian librettist and playwright perhaps best known for writing the text of ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (1835) for Gaetano Donizetti. For D ...

, a famous opera

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

who wrote for

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

. He enrolled at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli The Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli (Naples Academy of Fine Arts) is a university-level art school in Naples. In the past it has been known as the Reale Istituto di Belle Arti and the Reale Accademia di Belle Arti. Founded by King Charles VII ...

in 1853.Biography
from the

Enciclopedia 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 ...

. Later, he studied with Gabriele Smargiassi, Giuseppe Mancinelli and the Palizzi brothers (

Filippo Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filip ...

and

Giuseppe Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

), painters in the Naturalistic style. He had his first exhibition in 1855 at the ""Real Museo Borbonico". In 1860, however, he became fascinated with

Giuseppe 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 enlisted in the "Guardia Nazionale" to help eliminate the brigantaggio; a major step in the

reunification of Italy The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century Political movement, political and social movement that resulted in the Merger (politics), consolidation of List of historic stat ...

. His experiences had a decisive influence on his artistic career. A brief stay in Florence after his service brought him into contact with the

Macchiaioli The Macchiaioli () were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century. They strayed from antiquated conventions taught by the Italian art academies, and did much of their painting outdoors in order to ...

, who also had some influence. In 1863, one of his paintings was purchased by King

Victor Emmanuel II Victor Emmanuel II ( it, Vittorio Emanuele II; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia from 1849 until 17 March 1861, when he assumed the title o ...

.Brief biography
@ Libero. In 1865, he moved to Rome then, in 1867, to Venice. In 1870, his admiration for

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and t ...

led him to Paris. He was determined to meet Courbet, which he did and, while he was there, discovered the works of

Théodore Géricault Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is ''The Raft of the Medusa''. Although he died young, he was one of the pioneers of the Romantic ...

. In 1888, he was commissioned by the Italian government to create a monumental canvas depicting the

Battle of Dogali The Battle of Dogali was fought on 26 January 1887 between Italy and Ethiopia in Dogali near Massawa, in present-day Eritrea. History The Italians, after their unification in 1861, wanted to establish a colonial empire to cement their great p ...

(1887). After reading about the geography and local customs, he moved to

Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak ...

to inspect the battle site in person and remained for almost five years to complete the painting. While there, he also created landscapes and portraits of the local people. In 1900, he was appointed to succeed his old teacher, Filippo Palizzi, as Professor at the Institute in Naples. After that, his productivity declined; although he made a few trips to Sicily to paint landscapes. A street in Naples has been named after him.

Selected paintings

File:Michele Cammarano - Atrio di Santa Maria Maggiore.jpg, The Atrium of

Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

(1865/66) File:Cammarano-Earthquake.jpg, The Effects of an Earthquake (date unknown) File:Cammarano-Infantry.jpg, The Infantry at

Porta Pia Porta Pia is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo in replacement for the Port ...

(1871),

Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italia ...

File:Bataille de Dogali.jpg, The

(1896) File:Trumps-Cammarano.jpg, Game of Trumps (1886)

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Cammarano.Tafter:
"Recuperato dipinto di Cammarano trafugato in epoca nazista" (Painting recovered...stolen in Nazi era.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cammarano, Michele 1835 births 1920 deaths Painters from Naples War paintings 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian male artists 20th-century Italian male artists

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links