Pelagio Palagi Biography
Pelagio Palagi, born in Bologna in 1775, was a neoclassical painter, sculptor and architect who studied at the Accademia Clementina in Bologna. He subsequently moved to Rome (1806/1815), where he attended the Accademia di San Luca, and where he specialized in painting under the guidance of Vincenzo Camuccini, also painting at the Quirinale and Palazzo Torlonia. In 1810 he participated in the Parisian Salon and worked in Milan from 1815 to 1832, taking part in the Brera exhibition in 1818 and approaching Romantic Historicism from the 1920s, thanks to his friendship with the painter Francesco Hayez (1791-1882) . Together they worked on the decoration of the "Lanterna" rooms of the Royal Palace. In 1832, at the invitation of Carlo Alberto, he moved to Turin, where he supervised the furnishing works of the Racconigi Castle, the Royal Palace of Turin and the Pollenzo castle from 1834. Appointed director of the Ornament School of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, he oversaw the collection of archaeological and numismatic finds, cultivating his interest in ancient culture. Among his most important works are the "Cancellata" and the decoration of the "Ballroom" in Palazzo Reale (1834/1840), the renovation of the hall and proscenium of the Teatro Regio (1837, destroyed in the fire of 1936 ), the construction of the "Margheria" in the park of the Racconigi castle, one of the first examples of neo-Gothic architecture in Italy, the bronze monument to Amedeo VI, known as the "Green Count" (1844/1847 inaugurated in 1853) and the " Gabinetto Etrusco" (1834), set up in the castle of Racconigi, intended as the private studio of Carlo Alberto, created by the cabinetmaker Guido Capello known as Moncalvo and presented at the Universal Exhibition in London in 1851, which achieved great success. Palagi died in Turin in 1860.
