Giovacchino Toma (Galatina, near Naples, 1838 - 1891) was an Italian painter, mainly of historic and genre subjects, painted in a Romantic style.
Biography
He painted a large canvas on the Eruption of Vesuvius, also called A Rain of Ashes (La pioggia di cenere di Vesuvio)( displayed at Turin Exhibition and donated to Academy of Florence[1]), that documents a tradition that locals from of the areas at the foot of the volcano, during minor eruptions, would parade an icon of San Gennaro and plead in prayer to be spared greater harm from an eruption. He also painted La confessione. Gubernatis quotes a critic, remarking on the latter painting, who called Toma a painter of scenes of sacristy, convents, monks, schools, of scenes where the penumbra of the church choir enlivened by flashes of red light from candles and lamps; he is a master at gathering the ecclesiastical countenance in people and things, and of us getting us to gather the sense of the sacred place which spreads with the smell of incense and light governed by the large hanging lamps. While both works depict folk religious fervor, they highlight some of the more primitive and superstitious elements.
Among other major works include Man Tortured by Inquisition, exhibited at Paris; Clemente VII che nasconde le gioie del Vaticano, exhibited at the Promotrice of Naples; La guardia alla rota dei trovatelli, bought by the Ministry of Public Education; Le orfane, awarded in Naples; La messa in casa, acquired by the City of Naples; l'onomastico della maestra, donated to the Academy of Naples.
His master work Luisa Sanfelice in carcere (Luisa Sanfelice in jail) is located in the collection of the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, reproduced in the Illustrazione Italiana. This work depicts the former aristocrat in her jail cell in Castel Sant’Elmo, stitching a dress for the child she was expecting. Her decapitation was ordered on order of the restored Bourbon king for supporting the Parthenopean Republic of 1799.[2]
He became known for teaching design. He became professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Naples, honorary professor of the Accademia Ligustica, Director of the School of Applied Design. He was named a knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy. He published collections of designs for the manufacture of lace, which was awarded silver medal at the Exposition of Turin. He also published a text of elementary design, which includes a collection of plants and of drawings in twenty plates. Toma also published an autobiographical booklet, entitled Memories of an orphan (Ricordi di un orfano).[3]
References
- ^ La pioggia di cenere di Vesuvio is on display at Palazzo Pitti's Florentine Museum of Modern Art.
- ^ Luisa Sanfelice in Carcere
- ^ Dizionario degli Artisti Italiani Viventi: pittori, scultori, e Architetti., by Angelo de Gubernatis. Tipe dei Successori Le Monnier, 1889, page .
|