Luigi Serra

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Luigi Serra
Luigi Serra, self portrait 1887
Born(1846-06-08)June 8, 1846
DiedJuly 11, 1888(1888-07-11) (aged 42)
NationalityItalian
Known forPainting

Luigi Serra (June 8, 1846 – July 11, 1888) was an Italian painter, known for his watercolors.

Biography

In 1858 Serra began studies at the Collegio Artistico Venturoli, working first under Gaetano Serrazanetti and then under Luigi Busi. In 1863 he was admitted the Bolognese Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under Giulio Cesare Ferrari, Antonio Puccinelli, and Salvino Salvini, and in 1865 he received a medal for painting. In 1866, he won the Angiolini Stipend, a prize that allowed him to travel to Florence.

In Florence, he was a companion of

Giosue Carducci
and Raffaele Belluzzi. Serra along with the lawyer Ulisse Sartori, represented the Societies of Artists and Fine Arts.

In 1870 at Parma, he exhibited: Annibale Bentivoglio, prisoner in the Castle of Varano. In 1877 Serra moved to Rome, the following year he began studies for the large painting Entry of the Catholic Army into Prague (event occurring after the Battle of White Mountain) for the apse of the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. That church was founded in celebration of that event. In 1883, he exhibited that painting in Rome. Among his watercolors: Mezzogiorno; Dal Colosseo (1884, exhibited at Mostra of Fine Arts in Turin); and the sketch San Carlo ai Catinari.[2]

In 1873, accompanied by Mario De Maria, Paolo Bedini, and Raffaele Faccioli, Serra travelled to the International Exposition of Vienna. In 1874 he travels to Turin, and meets Marco Calderini, and the next year wins another three-year stipend. In 1875, after three years, Serra finished his Allegory of the Arts for the sipario (theater curtain) for Theater of Fabriano. In 1880, he returned to finish further painting of allegorical figures for the ceiling of the Theater Gentile in Fabriano.

Back in Rome, displayed some sketches in the competition for the decoration of the so-called "Yellow Hall" of the Senate. Despite the considerable efforts made by Serra, studying Roman history and making preparatory sketches, he lost the commission to Cesare Maccari. In 1882 his Apparition of the Virgin to Saints Francis and Bonaventure, commissioned by the Padri Reformati of the Church of the Crucifix located on via del Cestello, Bologna. Between 1882 and 1883 Serra was collaborator under the pseudonym L'imbianchino to the magazine Cronaca Bizantina published by Angelo Sommaruga. Serra continued to publish articles and correspondences for periodicals until 1877.

In 1881, Serra was appointed academic correspondent of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. In 1888, he also exhibited in Bologna paintings depicting antique sites demolished in Rome with urban renewal.

In 1884, his portrait of Signora Deserti, despite four months of effort, was declined. He also lost a commission for painting the

San Giovanni Laterano.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ Galleria d'arte moderna Ricci-Oddi Archived 2013-12-27 at the Wayback Machine of Piacenza, short biographies of artists in collection.
  2. ^ Gubernatis, Angelo de (1889). Dizionario degli Artisti Italiani Viventi: pittori, scultori, e Architetti (in Italian). Tipe dei Successori Le Monnier. p. 470.
  3. ^ Exhibited at 1888 National Exposition at Bologna, but John of Nepomuk work never completed.
  4. ^ "Luigi Serra". Fondi nel Web (in Italian). Biblioteca dell’Archiginnasio di Bologna. October 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2013.