Tommaso Minardi Biography
Tommaso Minardi (1787 - 1871) was born in Faenza and studied in Rome, first following the neoclassical direction and then orienting himself towards purism under the influence of the Nazarenes, whose manifesto he signed in 1843. Although his art as a painter was strongly linked to the precepts of the academy, its importance in the artistic culture of the second quarter of the nineteenth century was notable. In addition to being an excellent teacher, he also wrote about art (Writings, collected by E. Ovidi, 1864). He favored religious subjects in his paintings (such as the Apparition of the Virgin to S. Stanislaus Kostka, 1824, preserved in the Jesuit Novitiate at S. Andrea al Quirinale in Rome, and the Madonna of the Rosary, 1840, preserved in the National Gallery of modern art of Rome), but he also proved skilled in portraying himself, as demonstrated by his “Self-portrait in the studio” (1813, preserved in the Uffizi). He left numerous drawings preserved in various art galleries, including the Capitoline one, the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, the Uffizi and the Faenza art gallery. He died in Rome in 1871.
