''Purismo'' was an Italian cultural movement which began in the 1820s. The group intended to restore and preserve language through the study of medieval authors, and such study extended to the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

. Inspired by the Nazarenes from Germany, the artists of Purismo reject Neoclassicism and emulated the works of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

and

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...

. The movement flourished through 1860, and reflected the taste for revivalist styles, which in Italy was fed growing interest in Italian national identity and artistic heritage.

History

The term "Purismo" was coined in 1838 to describe the paintings of that referred to the "primitive" Italian artists, from

Cimabue Cimabue (; ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World’s Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter ...

to the first

. This nostalgia paralleled changes in literary taste, which was looking back to Tuscan 14th century poetry and literature. In that way, Purismo was similar to the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

movement in Great Britain. The group's ideals were declared in their manifesto ''Del purismo nelle arti'', in 1842–43 which was written by Antonio Bianchini and co-signed by major proponent of Purismo

Tommaso Minardi Tommaso Minardi (December 4, 1787 – January 12, 1871) was an Italian painter and author on art theory, active in Faenza, Rome, Perugia, and other towns. He painted in styles that transitioned from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. Biography Mi ...

(1787–1871), Nazarene co-founder Friedrich Overbeck, and sculptor Pietro Tenerani. Another important support of Purismo was Luigi Mussini, called from Paris as the director of the Regio Istituto Senese di Belle Arti. In 1841, he combined references to the Umbrian paintings of the 15th century with influences from the Nazarenes and Ingres in his painting ''La Musica Sacra'' (stored in Florence's Gallery of Modern Art). Tommaso Minardi's pupils Antonio Ciseri and Costantino Brumidi and Mussini's pupils Alessandro Franchi, Amos Cassioli and

Cesare Maccari Cesare Maccari (; 9 May 1840 – 7 August 1919) was an Italian painter and sculptor, most famous for his 1888 painting ''Cicerone denuncia Catilina'' (usually translated as ''Cicero Accuses Catiline'' or ''Cicero Denounces Catiline''). Early l ...

are all linked to the movement, as well as

Bartolomeo Pinelli Bartolomeo Pinelli (November 20, 1781 – April 1, 1835) was an Italian illustrator and engraver. Life Pinelli was born and died in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, the son of an artisan who modeled religious statues. Pinelli was edu ...

, Giambattistia Gigola, and Giovanni De Min. Maurizio Dufou was the main Purismo proponent in Liguria; he was joined by artists such as :it:Luigia Mussini Piaggio. In Genoa, the largest realization of the movement's style is the Basilica di Santa Maria Immacolata. With the first national Italian exhibition in 1861, which took place in Florence, the fortunes of Purismo began to decline and be replaced by the styles of

Verismo In opera, ''verismo'' (, from , meaning "true") was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini. ''Verismo'' as an ...

and 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 ...

References

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
{{Romanticism Italian art movements Romantic art movements