Teofilo Patini Biography
Teofilo Patini was an Italian painter born in Castel di Sangro, Aquila, on 5 May 1840. After studying philosophy at the University of Naples, he enrolled in painting courses at the Academy of Fine Arts in the same city, where he had as teachers Giuseppe Mancinelli, Giovanni Salomone and Biagio Molinari. After carrying out study trips to Florence and Rome, Patini moved to L'Aquila and in 1882 founded the "School of Arts and Crafts". Here, Patini lived and worked, establishing his atelier in the monumental Palazzo Ardinghelli. As a socialist, Patini loved to portray the peasant civilization of Abruzzo at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the last century, highlighting the poverty of the region and the population's capacity for resistance and sacrifice. Painting, for Patini, was the way with which to report the difficult conditions of his people, as well as being his great passion. Patini received honorary citizenship of L'Aquila from the city council in 1906. However, shortly afterwards he moved to Naples to work on the decoration of the University, work which he was unable to complete. Teofilo Patini died in Naples on 16 November 1906.
