Roberto Bompiani (February 10, 1821 – January 19, 1908) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Bompiani was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. By the age of fifteen, he had enrolled at the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fi ...

in Rome, where in 1836 he shared a first prize with fellow student in design, Angelo Valeriani. By 1839, he was able to win prizes both in sculpture and painting at the Accademia. He was remarkably prolific, especially as a painter. He is particularly known for paintings of scenes from

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

, for which he gained the nickname ''"the Italian Bouguereau". Among his sculptural works, almost all from 1865–1870, are ''Sappho'' ( Palazzo Castellani, Rome), ''Ruth'', and the statuettes ''Amore che cerca chi deve ferire'' and ''Alexander tames Bucephalus''. Among his paintings are a ''Portrait of

Queen Margherita Margherita of Savoy (''Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna''; 20 November 1851 – 4 January 1926) was Queen of Italy by marriage to Umberto I. Life Early life Margherita was born to Prince Ferdinand of Savoy, Duke of Genoa and Princess Elisabeth ...

'' (1878) at the Palazzo di Montecitorio; Portraits of the Borghese family; Portrait of Signora Liverani (1866,

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, Rome); Portrait of Marchese Ferrajoli; Portrait of his wife (1873); ''Diana and Actaeon''; ''Dance'' and ''Tragedy'' for the Theater of

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

; and two canvases for a church in Santiago: ''Ascencion of the Virgin'' and ''Crown of Thorns''. He also painted frescoes in

San Lorenzo in Lucina The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( it, Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Lucina or simply it, San Lorenzo in Lucina; la, S. Laurentii in Lucina) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. ...

; frescoes in

Santa Maria in Trastevere The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere); en, Our Lady in Trastevere) is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and ...

: ''San Romano Martyr''; and the fresco on the portico of the Cemetery of

Campo 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 ...

: ''Moses' Curse: Death of the First-born of Egypt''. In 1876, at the

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's Centennial Exhibition, Bompiani exhibited a ''Roman girl placing garlands on the bust of his father'' and the ''Suonatore di Tibia (Flutist)''. These were the first of his popular ''Pompeian'' works. He painted ''Catullus at the banks of the Tiber'', ''l'Affissatore pompeiano'', the ''Triclinium'', and a ''partita a gli astragali''. He exhibited at the Mostra internazionale of

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where he won an award for his portrait of Giovanni Battista Canevari (1872), that now hangs at the Accademia di San Luca. He rose to become professor and president of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome.Getty Museum Site Both his son, Augusto Bompiani, and his daughter, Clelia Bompiani, were also painters.

References

1821 births 1908 deaths Painters from Rome 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors Neo-Pompeian painters Fresco painters 19th-century Italian male artists 20th-century Italian male artists {{Italy-painter-19thC-stub