Rocco Lentini (1858 – November 1943) was an Italian painter, noted for directing the team responsible for the ceiling decorations of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

Biography

Rocco Lentini was born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

in 1858 and died in Venice in 1943. His father, a scenographer, was his first master. He won as scholarship from the community to study at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, then to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1879 and in the 1878 Promotrice of Turin. He painted

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 ...

and landscapes in watercolor and tempera. He also studied scenography. His landscapes feature vistas and places in Sicily. He also painted historical canvases, including ''The disembarkation of Garibaldi at

Marsala Marsala (, local ; la, Lilybaeum) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily. The town is famous for the docking of Gius ...

''. In the late 1880s, he was commissioned to paint frescoes for the

Villa Malfitano Whitaker Villa Malfitano Whitaker is a 19th-century villa in Via Dante, in the quarter of Politeama of Palermo, Sicily. It is presently a museum displaying Whitaker's natural history and archaeological collections, as well as his artwork. History The vil ...

in Palermo. Between 1893 and 1897, he led a team of artists responsible for the ceiling decoration of the Teatro Massimo of Palermo. The team consisted of Luigi Di Giovanni,

Michele Cortegiani Michele Cortegiani (Palermo, 8 February 1857 - Tunisia, 1928) was an Italian painter, mainly of seascapes of his native Sicily and later Tunisia, and of female portraits and genre subjects. Biography He trained with Francesco Lojacono, moving ...

and

Ettore De Maria Bergler Ettore De Maria Bergler (1850–1938) was an Italian painter, known for his ''Stilo Liberty'' (Art Nouveau) painting, but also proficient in genre and landscapes. Biography He was born in Naples. He trained under Antonio Leto and Francesco Loja ...

. Lentini's concept for the ceiling (pictured) was that of a large wheel with gilded spokes which would contrast with the azure background. Within each spoke, (panels known as petals) feature angels and female figures with musical instruments painted on canvas, while the centrepiece was an allegory of the 'Triumph of Music'. In 1884, he won a stipend to attend the Brera Academy, and stayed in Milan for some years. He returned to teach and paint in Palermo. He published two educational books ''Elementi di Ornato'' (1892) and ''Elementi di Paesaggio''. In 1911, in collaboration with

Ernesto Basile Ernesto Basile (31 January 1857 – 26 August 1932, in Palermo) was an Italian architect and an exponent of modernisme and Liberty style, the Italian variant of Art Nouveau. His style was known for its eclectic fusion of ancient, medieval and m ...

, he published the book titled ''Le sculture e gli stucchi di Giacomo Serpotta''. He organized and exhibited the ''Mostra Siciliana di Pittura, Scultura, Bianco e nero'', held at Villa Gallidoro. He was editor and owner of the monthly journal "La Sicilia Artistica e Archeologica". he traveled frequently to Germany, North Italy, and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, participating in two Biennali, 1905 and 1922. In the 1930s, he carried out restoration work on the Moorish Palazzo Cuba of Palermo.Occhinegro, U. and Fallacara, G., ''Castel del Monte: Nuova ipotesi comparata sull’identità del monumento,'' Gangemi Editore, 2012, pp 63-65; Karagoz, C. and Summerfield, G., ''Sicily and the Mediterranean: Migration, Exchange, Reinvention,'' Springer, 2015, -book edition n.p.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lentini, Rocco 1858 births 1943 deaths Painters from Palermo 19th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian male artists Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian male artists Brera Academy alumni