Cherubino Cornienti Biography
Cherubini Cornienti (Pavia, 25 March 1816 – Milan, 12 May 1860) was an Italian painter, exponent of Romanticism. In 1838, at the age of twenty-two, he painted the portrait of the rich philanthropist Felice Borroni di Solcio di Lesa in oils, probably his first important commission. In 1839 a similar work: the portrait of the Bishop of Lodi, Count Gaetano Benaglia. In 1842 he painted Paolo Erizzo's farewell to his daughter, but, disappointed in his expectations, he sold it to a second-hand dealer. In 1843 he obtained the three-year artistic pension for painting in Rome from the Brera Academy and moved there; before leaving, in the same year, he painted his self-portrait dedicating it to his mother (today the painting is part of the collection of the Gallery of Modern Art of Villa Belgioioso-Buonaparte in Milan). The suggestion he receives from the President of Brera is to amend some of his defects through the study of the classics. In Rome (he lives in via della Purificazione 69) he comes into contact with Roman artists, especially with those gravitating around the local Academy of S. Luca and with the colony of foreign ones. He is a friend of the painter Karl Bryullov. He follows the Nude courses at the French Academy at Villa Medici. Send essays to Brera will then mainly produce in his last artistic period. In 1850 he received the commission for a fresco in the Capuchin Convent of Tivoli (Disparition of Christ in Emmaus). In 1853, Moses trampling on the crown of the Pharaoh was finally finished, but the Brera examining commission, including Francesco Hayez, criticized it extensively. Cornienti must return to Milan. He works in Garlate and Crema. 1854 was a year of profound prostration for him, caused by the death of Lalla, his model and companion who had followed him from Rome to Milan. He visits Venice and is in Trieste where he paints some portraits. Back in Milan he portrayed Count Renato Borromeo. In 1856 he painted two paintings for a church in Malgrate. Then he was presented with the possibility of a fresco in the Cathedral of Vigevano, but which was instead assigned to Francesco Gonin (1857). He misses Rome and would like to return. He continues in paintings with historical subjects, on the theme of episodes from the life of Leonardo and Michelangelo, Ludovico il Moro and Galeazzo Sforza. In 1858 he received important orders from the patron Brambilla. 1859 was a year marked by particular political events: the annual Brera exhibition allowed him to exhibit some of his significant works. However, his professional satisfactions are ruined by his increasingly poor health: the fever torments him and his body weakens, forcing him to neglect the more demanding jobs. He dedicated himself to small works with sentimental and erotic themes, especially with small sketches, in an eighteenth-century style.
