Giuseppe Mancinelli Biography
Giuseppe Mancinelli was an Italian painter of the historical-romantic genre, born in Naples on 17 March 1813 and died in Palazzolo di Castrocielo on 25 May 1875. After having attended the courses of the painter Costanzo Angelini at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Naples, at the age of seventeen he participated in the Bourbon Exhibitions, where he distinguished himself with his paintings of historical subjects. In 1835 he won the competition for the artistic pensioner which allowed him to stay in Rome, where he had Vincenzo Camuccini as his teacher.
During the Roman period, studying Renaissance art, he came into contact with the avant-garde movements of the purists and the Nazarenes, mediated by the German masters present in Rome. Returning to Naples in 1851, he won the competition for the chair of drawing at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts, succeeding the death of his former teacher Costanzo Angelini. During the decade of his teaching, he was able to give new life to the academic institution, mediating between classicism, romanticism and realism.
Mancinelli was the court painter of the Bourbons of Naples, while his son Gustavo was the court painter of the House of Savoy. He died in Palazzolo di Castrocielo at the age of 62.
