Augusto Mussini
Augusto Mussini | |
|---|---|
 Self portrait, Church of Cappuccini, Ascoli Piceno. | |
| Born | 9 January 1870 Reggio nell'Emilia, Italy |
| Died | 1 November 1918 (aged 48) Rome, Italy |
Augusto Mussini (9 January 1870 – 1 November 1918) was an Italian painter and friar.
Life and career[edit]
Artistic formation[edit]
Born in Reggio nell'Emilia, Mussini studied at the Regia Scuola di disegno per operai, under Gaetano Chierici and Cirillo Manicardi, graduating in 1888. In 1890 he co-founded the association "Cooperativa pittori di Reggio Emilia", later becoming its artistic director.[1] In 1892 he moved to Rome, where he studied at the Academy of France and attended the Scuola Libera del Nudo of the Accademia di Belle Arti.[1] In 1893, thanks to a scholarship, he moved to Florence where he enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.[1]
Starting from 1896 Mussini started exhibiting his works in important exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, and worked for important patrons, including the Medici family.[1] In 1903, he began collaborating with the journal Leonardo, under the pseudonym Augustus.[1]
Escape and religious vocation[edit]
On 26 October 1903, Mussini disappeared from Florence, escaping from a duel with his best friend, the painter Giovanni Costetti, who had become his rival because of a woman, the painter Beatrice Ancillotti.[1] On the way to the Austria, and after contemplating suicide, he got hospitality in a Capuchin monastery in Gorizia.[1] He eventually moved to a Franciscan monastery in Trieste and then to the Franciscan monastery of Ascoli Piceno.[1] There, after one year of in isolation and contemplative practices, in January 1905 he became a Friar, taking the name of Fra Paolo (Brother Paul).[1] After the vows, he reprised his artistic activities, decorating various churches in Marche, including the Church of Cappuccini where he realized a large mural illustrating the life of Seraphin of Montegranaro.[1]
Further reading[edit]
- Francesco Onori (1919). Augusto Mussini. Tipografia Ascolana.
- Father Emidio D'Ascoli (1926). La vita e l'arte di frate Paolo Augusto Mussini. Officine Grafìche Reggiane.
- Elisabetta Farioli (1987). Augusto Mussini: Frà Paolo. Musei Civici Reggio Emilia.
- Vittorio Sgarbi, Luca Luna (1991). Frà Paolo Augusto Mussini. Edizioni grafiche italiane.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
Media related to Augusto Mussini at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
- 1870 births
- 1918 deaths
- Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in Italy
- People from Reggio Emilia
- 19th-century Italian painters
- Italian male painters
- 20th-century Italian painters
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze alumni
- 19th-century Italian male artists
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma alumni
- 20th-century Italian male artists