Alfonso Simonetti (1840 – 1892) - Melodia d'altri tempi

Alfonso Simonetti (Naples, December 29, 1840 – Castrocielo, August 22, 1892) Melody of Times Past
dimensions with frame cm. 60x50.
work with gallery guarantee certificate
the frame is not part of the work but it is complimentary

Alfonso Simonetti (Naples, December 29, 1840 – Castrocielo, August 22, 1892) was an Italian painter.

Biography
A Romantic-style painter, Alfonso Simonetti was the son of the painter Giuseppe and Vincenza Piccirillo. He trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli, where he enrolled in 1859 and studied under Gabriele Smargiassi and Giuseppe Mancinelli. In 1864 he obtained a scholarship for a Pensionato in Florence. He made his debut at the Promotrice Napoletana exhibition of 1862 with the canvas “Ettore Fieramosca al monte Gargano.” In 1873 he made a life portrait of Giuseppe Verdi and in 1876 he was commissioned a portrait of Claudio Monteverdi.

In addition to portraits, he favored historical subjects and landscapes, sometimes painted with nocturnal effects and moonlit reflections, of which he tempered the luminous intensity. At the National Exposition of Turin in 1880—which served as a springboard for many southern artists—he exhibited the canvases La malaria and La serenata, the latter wrapped in a sparse nocturnal atmosphere. In Naples, in 1877, he presented two paintings: Senza speranza ella è morta and Ultimo raggio.

He also depicted urban landscapes, such as Via Giuseppe Mancinelli. In Milan, in 1882, he sent Ancora non torna and Dopo l’uragano. In 1883, in Rome, he presented a landscape titled Tramonto and in 1887, in Venice, he sent the paintings Selva and Raccolta degli ulivi. In London, at the Exposizione d’arte italiana, he presented Foresta and Castrocielo, in addition to the historical-themed canvas Gutenberg, Faust e Coeffer stampano la prima pagina della Bibbia. He was appointed in 1872 as an honorary professor of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli.