Michele Gordigiani was born in 1835 in Florence, where he followed the school of Luigi Mussini, together with Silvestro Lega. In the Piazza Donatello area of Florence there were numerous artists' studios and there was also the studio of Michele Gordigiani, who portrayed Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, works now exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Read the full biography
Do you own a work by Michele Gordigiani and want to sell it? Entrust it to our appraisal and auction services.
Request a free valuation
Our specialists are always available to provide free and confidential valuations and appraisals.
Michele Gordigiani was born in 1835 in Florence, where he followed the school of Luigi Mussini, together with Silvestro Lega. In the Piazza Donatello area of Florence there were numerous artists' studios and there was also the studio of Michele Gordigiani, who portrayed Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, works now exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Soon, however, his propensity for portraiture became almost exclusive, and due to his refined skills in this genre of painting he quickly gained widespread acclaim. The Self-portrait in the Uffizi dates back to 1856 - where he paints himself with a subtly cheeky air and a cigar in his mouth - and the portrait of Ludovico Raymond. In 1860 he went to Paris, into whose artistic and social circles he was introduced by Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, his close friend and portrayed by him several times over the years. In addition to the aforementioned museums and numerous Italian and foreign private collections, G.'s works are found in the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples (Princess Clotilde of Savoy), in the National Art Gallery of Bologna (Egloghe), in the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome (Portrait of Eduardo Gordigiani, E. Fabbri and A. Müller), in the National Gallery of Modern Art of Palazzo Pitti in Florence, where around thirty canvases by the artist are kept.
