Geremia Discanno

Last updated
Geremia Discanno
Portrait photograph of Geremia Discanno before his death in 1907.jpg
Geremia Discanno, painter, before 1907
Born20 May 1839
Barletta, Italy
Died14 January 1907
Naples, Italy
NationalityItalian
Occupation(s)Painter, Illustrator, inventor
Notable workcontained in Pompeian Wall Decorations for artists and arts schools and friends of ancient times published by Emil Presuhn.

Geremia Discanno (sometimes spelled Di Scanno), 1839 - 1907, was an Italian genre and landscape painter, [1] who collaborated with archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli, art historian Emil Presuhn, and Naples-based chromolithographer Victor Steeger, to record wall paintings in the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum that were being excavated at the time.

Contents

Early life

Discanno was born on May 20, 1839, in Barletta, a city in southeastern Italy near the site of the famous ancient battle of Cannae in 216 BCE between the Romans and the forces of Carthaginian general Hannibal. His father, Gennaro Discanno, was a successful painter of ecclesiastical commissions who lived with his family in the wealthiest district of the city near the intersection of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the Corso Garibaldi, just around the corner from the birthplace of another famous painter and contemporary, Giuseppe De Nittis. [2]

Barletta at the time of the Bourbons, and in particular during the reign of Ferdinand II, nicknamed the "Bomb King" for having his own subjects cannonaded, was an extremely class-oriented city and those who could afford it gathered regularly near Discanno's home beneath the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher with its bronze Colossus of Heraclius in front. Situated on the Adriatic coast, Barletta's port thrived as a point of embarkation for the privileged traveling to or returning from the east. [3]

Both Discanno's father and the father of De Nittis, Raffaele, were publicly outspoken in their opposition to the Bourbon monarchy and their support for the unification of Italy. Raffael was imprisoned for two years while Gennaro, Discanno's father, suffered only a one-year sentence to a spiritual retreat in a monastery of Capuchin friars because of his relationships with the church and local clergy. [2]

Professional Training

As a rich landowner, De Nittis, could afford to have his son study with a local acclaimed artist, Giovan Battista Calò, who tutored other notable Barlettan painters including Vincenzo De Stefano, Giuseppe Gabbiani, and Raffaele Girondi. [4] But Discanno learned instead from his father at home. Geremia Discanno demonstrated his natural gift for art by painting "King Manfredi's Tournament" in 1859, a copy of a curtain made for the Piccinni Theater in Bari by the eminent Terlizzi painter, Michele De Napoli. De Napoli was a well-known painter in Neapolitan art circles and particularly talented in historical landscape paintings and portraiture. At the time, he was involved in competition for a chair in drawing at the Reale Instituto di Belle Arti, a university-level art school in Naples founded by King Charles VII of Naples in 1752. But De Napoli's candidacy was rejected by the Bourbonian-controlled commission because of his liberal ideals. Nevertheless, Michele De Napoli's prestige was undiminished, so he could introduce Geremia Discanno for admission to the Institute as a student. A few years later, during the Risorgamento Di Napoli was named to the Board of Superintendence of the National Museum and the Excavations of Antiquities by a decree of 7 December 1860, signed by Giuseppe Garibaldi himself.

During Discanno's formative years, excavations in Pompeii, finally conducted with a systematic approach beginning in 1748, yielded new, widely published discoveries every day. But excavators were dismayed to observe many paintings not removed from their original site began to decay and disappear at an alarming rate.

With the unification of Italy in 1860, the legal status of Pompeii changed from being a royal possession from which monarchs could use the site to obtain antiquities for their private collections or to gift artifacts to illustrious foreign guests, to property of the state. Archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli was named superintendent and he began to manage the excavations to transform Pompeii into a place to visit to gain a glimpse into the past of western civilization and begin to understand those who went before the modern world. Fiorelli developed an address system to identify each structure within the ancient city. Then he focused on copying and cataloging the frescoes left in situ.

Meanwhile, Discanno studied under the guidance of conformists Domenico Morelli and Filippo Palizzi, two of the faculty who voted to expel Discanno's former neighbor, De Nittis, from the Institute for insubordination in 1863.

In 1866, Discanno, the ever-diligent pupil, received a scholarship from his home province of Bari to refine his art in Florence. There, he again encountered his former neighbor, De Nittis. Discanno participated in the "Solemn Exposition of the Society of Encouragement of the Belle Arts" and garnered respectable sums for his paintings, more than acclaimed artists Giovanni Boldini, Giovanni Fattori and Telemaco Signorini. [2] Although De Nittis did not participate in that exhibition, both Discanno and De Nittis exhibited in Turin in 1867 and sold work there. [2] However, De Nittis left suddenly for Paris and the bright lights of the Ville Lumière [4] while Discanno returned south, retiring in solitude to a remote farm in the Canosan countryside.

Work in Pompeii

Geremia Discanno working in an insula in Pompeii towards the end of his life Geremia Discanno towards the end of his life before 1907 newspaper photograph.jpg
Geremia Discanno working in an insula in Pompeii towards the end of his life

Between 1868 and 1870, Discanno shuttled back and forth between the farm and the city while he continued to paint, but struggled with stingy commissions and few awards. In 1870, a triumphant and newly married De Nittis returned to Naples flush with success from his Parisian exhibitions and salons. Discanno returns to Naples as well. There he renewed his acquaintance with Giuseppe Abbate, the elderly first draftsman of the Royal Excavations who he may have first encountered at the Florence exhibition of 1866. Abbate was a pupil, then close collaborator of Wilhelm Johann Karl Zahn since 1833. Zahn had been working with excavators in Pompeii under the direct assignment of the King of the Two Sicilies. It is thought this relationship led to Giuseppe Fiorelli's 1870 commission of Discanno to begin copying the frescoes being unearthed in Pompeii. [2] In Fiorelli's "The excavations of Pompeii from 1861 to 1872" published in 1873, more than fifty of Discanno's meticulous drawings made between 1870 and 1872 are listed. [5]

In 1874, a young art historian from Leipzig, Emil Presuhn, moved to Pompeii and immediately came into contact with Discanno. Their collaboration resulted in the publication of "Die Pompejanische Wanddecoration" (The wall frescoes of Pompeii) published in Leipzig in 1877, containing 24 color plates of Discanno's faithful reproductions, [6] followed by "Pompeji: Die neuesten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 1878" (Pompeii: the last excavations from 1874 to 1878) containing 60 plates of Discanno's watercolors. [7] A third publication, updating and extending the previous one, "Pompeji: Die neuessten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 1881" containing 80 color plates of Discanno's watercolors was published in 1882 after the untimely death of Presuhn, who died at the age of only 36. [8]

Sampling of Work from Pompeii

After Fiorelli left the excavations in 1875, Discanno was directly employed by the Superintedency in 1876. Antonio Sogliano who became director of excavations between 1905 and 1910 recalled there was the workshop of Discanno, in which Geremia with the help of some collaborators crushed and mixed paint colors to use in the reproduction of the Pompeian frescoes. Sogliano said the paintings made by "the master" were so realistic, even in the reproduction of the cracks in the wall, that more than once expert archaeologists had mistaken them for the originals. [9] Discanno became so knowledgeable about the art of Pompeii that he served as arbiter in controversial interpretations between archaeologists and art historians. He was also consulted repeatedly by renowned Dutch painter of classical subjects, (Sir) Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

By 1882, Discanno began to work directly with the Deutsches Archaeologisches Institut, the German Archaeological Institute, in Rome. Based on archived drawing dates, Discanno's collaboration with the German Archaeological Institute continued until 1890. [2] In 1890, Discanno was commissioned by the empress Elizabeth Amelie Eugenie von Witterback, wife of Franz Joseph of Hapsburg, emperor of Austria-Hungary, to decorate the vaults and stairways of her imperial villa known as the Achilleion, on the Greek island of Corfu with Pompeian designs. [10]

Between 1902 and 1904, Discanno was engaged in the development of an adhesive to preserve frescoes exhibited at the museum in Naples as evidenced by correspondence in the archive of the Superintendency of Naples. Curators wanted to remove protective waxes that had been applied in the middle of the 19th century which were irreparably yellowing the works. [11] Unfortunately, Discanno was sued by one of his subordinates and their collaborators, who claimed to be the actual inventor and demanded exclusivity of the process. When the trial went badly for the subordinate, the man insisted the solution was poisonous whereby Discanno dramatically seized the evidence vial of the liquid and took a sip to prove the falsity of the claim. Although Discanno won the case, his desire for confidentiality of the proceedings was not upheld.

Other commissions

As photography became more economical, fewer requests were made for Discanno to copy works at Pompeii, so he turned to private commissions to decorate churches, hotels, government chambers, such as the council chamber in Resina, opera and manner houses. He also continued to paint oils on canvas depicting Apulian rural scenes. [2]

One of his most complex works at this time was the execution of the frescoes in Palazzo De Prisco in Boscoreale in 1900. There, he reproduced the Pompeian 2nd style frescoes of the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor originally found in Boscoreale. The original frescoes were sold off by the landowner to the Louvre, the Musée Royal de Mariemont in Mariemont, Belgium and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as private collectors, [12] an act that outraged members of Italian parliament including archaeologist Felice Barnabei, a disciple of Pompeian archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli. [13] Although the sale of the Boscoreale frescoes was not prevented, in 1902 Italian Parliament approved the first regulation for the protection of Italy's cultural heritage. [14]

His work in Boscoreale is thought to have been Discanno's last commission. Discanno died shortly after its completion on January 14, 1907, in Naples. The Bulletin of Art published by the Directorate General of Antiquities and Fine Arts published his obituary expressing their appreciation for the precious artistic work he carried out in the service of archeology and in particular the excavations of Pompeii. [15] The Municipal Administration of Barletta named a city street after him. But, his last effort in Boscoreale now lies within an abandoned and neglected building, as forgotten as he has become. [2]

Notes

  1. Bénézit, Emmanuel (1924). Critical and documentary dictionary of painters, sculptors, designers & engravers of all times and all countries (1854-1920) (V. 2 ed.). Paris, E. Gründ.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Vinella, Pasquale Roberto (July 2021). Geremia Discanno il pittore di Pompei. Barletta, Italy: Editrice Rotas. ISBN   978-88-94983-81-4.
  3. Vista, Francesco Saverio (1899). Barletta before and after 1860. Barletta: Stab. Typographic G. Dellisanti.
  4. 1 2 Efrem Gisella Calingaert. "De Nittis, Giuseppe." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 9 Aug. 2013.<http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T022153>
  5. Fiorelli, Giuseppe (1873). The excavations of Pompeii from 1861 to 1872. Naples: Liceo V. Emanuele.
  6. Presuhn, Emil (1877). Die Pompejanische Wanddecoration. Leipzig: Weigel.
  7. Presuhn, Emil (1878). Pompeji: Die neuesten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 1878. Leipzig: Weigel.
  8. Presuhn, Emil (1882). Pompeji: Die neuessten Ausgrabungen von 1874 bis 1881. Leipzig: Weigel.
  9. Sogliano, Antonio (1940). The Archaeological School of Pompeii. Rome: Regia Accademia dei Lincei.
  10. De Burgh, Edward Alborough (1899). Elizabeth, Empress of Austria: a memoir. Hutchinson-Londa.
  11. Ninno, Mara (1978). Course on the maintenance of wall paintings - mosaics - stuccos. Rome: CENTRAL INSTITUTE FOR RESTORATION.
  12. Sambon, Arthur (1903). Les fresques de Boscoreale. Paris: F.lli Canessa.
  13. Barnabei, Felice. The Pompeian villa of Publio Fannio Sinistore discovered near Boscoreale. Minister of Public Education.
  14. Verbanck-Piérard, Annie (2010). La villa romaine de Publius Fannius Synistor à Boscoreale. Belgium: Morlanwelz.
  15. Beltram, Giovanni (1907). "Commemoration of the distinguished fellow citizen Geremia Discanno". Apulian Review of Sciences, Arts and Letters. XXIII.

Other biographical references

BOERMANN KARL, Kunstchronik: Wochenschriftfür Kunst und Kunstgewerbe, n o 41 - Leipzig, July 19, 1877

CHRISTOMANOS CONSTANTIN, "Elizabeth of Austria in Constantin Christomanos' diary sheets" edited by Verena von der Heyden-Rynsch, translation by Maria Gregorio - Adelphi Edizioni SpA - Milan, 1989

COMANDUCCI AM, "Italian painters of the 19th century" - Milan, 1934

DELPINO FILIPPO, "Felice Barnabei and art and antiquarian collecting in Ghia tofilo mas. Written in memory of Gaetano Messineo" by E. Mangani, A. Pellegrino, Edizioni Espera - Rome, 2016

DE NITTIS GIUSEPPE, "Notes et souvenirs du peintre Joseph De Nittis" Ancienne Maison Quantin - librairies imprimeries reunies - Paris, 1895

DE TOMASI FRANCESCA, "Diplomacy and archeology in late 19th century Rome", in "Horti Hesper idum - Studies in the history of collecting and artistic historiography" - Rome, 2013

DORONZO GIUSEPPE, "Ancient villages of Barletta - vol. 1 - 11 territory outside the walls" by CRSEC Regional Center for Educational Cultural Services - Bari, 2003

FARESE SPERKEN CHRISTINE, "19th century painting in Puglia" - Mario Adda Editore - Bari, 1996

FIORELLI GIUSEPPE, "The excavations of Pompeii from 1861 to 1872", Italian typography of the Liceo V. Emanuele - Naples, 1873 "Description of Pompeii", Italian typography of the Liceo V. Emanuele ImageNapoli, 1875

FURCHHEIM FRIEDRICH, "Bibliography of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia" ImageNaples, 1891

GIONTA DANIELE, "Pastures and antiques - correspondence with Felice Barnabei (1895-1912)", - 2014

GAEDESCHENS, RUDOLF, "Unedirte antike Bildwerke", Jena, 1873, courtesy Universitatsbibliothek Heidelberg

HERON DE VILLEFOSSE ANTOINE, "L'argenterie et les bijoux d'or du Trésor de Boscoreale", Ernst Leroux Editeur, Paris, 1903

IASIELLO ITALO, "Naples from capital to suburbs - Archeology and antiques market in Campaniq in the second half of the 19th century", Federico II University Press - Naples, 2017

MARTORANA PIETRO, "Biographical and bibliographic information of the writers of the Neapolitan dialect", Chiurazzi Editore, Naples, 1874

MAU AUGUST, "Geschichte der decorativen Wandmalerei in Pompeji, Printing and publishing ( edited by) G. Reimeer, Berlin, 1882

MIRAGLIA, MARINA AND OSANNA MASSIMO, "Pompeii, photography", Electaphoto, Verona, 2015

NECCO LUIGI, "The mystery of Troy. In search of the treasure by Schliemann" Tullio Pironti Editore - Naples, 1993

NICCOLINI FAUSTO E FELICE, "The houses and monuments of Pompeii drawn and described", Naples, 1896

OSANNA MASSIMO, "Pompeii the rediscovered time", Rizzoli - Milan, 2019

PASQUI ANTONIO, "The Pompeian villa of Pisanella", in "Ancient monuments published by the Royal Academy of the Lincei", U. Hoepli - Milan, 1897

RUGGERO MICHELE AND OTHERS, "Pompeii and the 1st region buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD", printing establishment of Cav. F. Giannini ImageNaples, 1879

SCHARF GEORGE JR., "The Pompeian Court in the Crystal Palace", Crystal Palace Library - London, 1854 SIOTTO ELIANA, 'Wall pictures from Vesuvian sites: the question of paints in the second half of the nineteenth century", in "Rivista di studi Pompeiani - XV", L'erma di Breitschneider - Pompei, 2004

SOGLIANO ANTONIO, "The Archaeological School of Pompeii", Regia Accademia dei Lincei - Rome, 1940, in "Various writings" pag. 338 et seq.

SZTÀRAY IRMA, "Elisabeth the last years", A. Holzausen - Vienna, 1909

VERBANCK-PIÉRARD ANNIE, "La villa romaine de Publius Fannius Synistor à Boscoreale" - Morlanwelz (BE), 2010

VISTA FRANCESCO SAVERIO, "Barletta before and after 1860", Stab. Typographic G. Dellisanti - Barletta, 1899 "Fondo FS Vista" documentary collection at the De Gemmis Library in Bari, containing autographed notes of historical research never published.

ZECCATO, NUNZIO, "November 11, 1890. Princess Sissi visits Naples and falls in love with it ", Vesuviolive website - Naples, 11 Nov 2018

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum</span> Aspect of art in ancient Rome

Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum has been both exhibited as art and censored as pornography. The Roman cities around the bay of Naples were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, thereby preserving their buildings and artefacts until extensive archaeological excavations began in the 18th century. These digs revealed the cities to be rich in erotic artefacts such as statues, frescoes, and household items decorated with sexual themes. The ubiquity of such imagery and items indicates that the treatment of sexuality in ancient Rome was more relaxed than current Western culture. However, much of what might strike modern viewers as erotic imagery, such as oversized phalluses, could arguably be fertility imagery. Depictions of the phallus, for example, could be used in gardens to encourage the production of fertile plants. This clash of cultures led to many erotic artefacts from Pompeii being locked away from the public for nearly 200 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Archaeological Museum, Naples</span> Museum in Naples,

The National Archaeological Museum of Naples is an important Italian archaeological museum, particularly for ancient Roman remains. Its collection includes works from Greek, Roman and Renaissance times, and especially Roman artifacts from the nearby Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum sites. From 1816 to 1861, it was known as Real Museo Borbonico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August Mau</span> German art historian (1840–1909)

August Mau was a prominent German art historian and archaeologist who worked with the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut while studying and classifying the Roman paintings at Pompeii, which was destroyed with the town of Herculaneum by volcanic eruption in 79 AD. The paintings were in remarkably good condition due to the preservation by the volcanic ash that covered the city. Mau first divided these paintings into the four Pompeian Styles still used as a classification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boscoreale</span> Comune in Campania, Italy

Boscoreale is an Italian comune and town in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, with a population of 27,457 in 2011. Located in the Vesuvius National Park, under the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, it is known for the fruit and vineyards of Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio. There is also a fine Vesuvian lava stone production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe De Nittis</span> Italian painter (1846–1884)

Giuseppe De Nittis was one of the most important Italian painters of the 19th century, whose work merges the styles of Salon art and Impressionism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pompeian Styles</span> Artistic styles found in Pompeii

The Pompeian Styles are four periods which are distinguished in ancient Roman mural painting. They were originally delineated and described by the German archaeologist August Mau (1840–1909) from the excavation of wall paintings at Pompeii, which is one of the largest groups of surviving Roman frescoes.

Terzigno is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 20 km east of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 16,977 and an area of 23.5 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation issues of Pompeii and Herculaneum</span> Aspect of archaeology in Pompeii and Herculaneum

Pompeii and Herculaneum were once thriving towns, 2,000 years ago, in the Bay of Naples. Both cities have rich histories influenced by Greeks, Oscans, Etruscans, Samnites and finally the Romans. They are most renowned for their destruction: both were buried in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. For over 1,500 years, these cities were left in remarkable states of preservation underneath volcanic ash, mud and rubble. The eruption obliterated the towns but in doing so, was the cause of their longevity and survival over the centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple of Isis (Pompeii)</span>

The Temple of Isis is a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis. This small and almost intact temple was one of the first discoveries during the excavation of Pompeii in 1764. Its role as a Hellenized Egyptian temple in a Roman colony was fully confirmed with an inscription detailed by Francisco la Vega on July 20, 1765. Original paintings and sculptures can be seen at the Museo Archaeologico in Naples; the site itself remains on the Via del Tempio di Iside. In the aftermath of the temple's discovery many well-known artists and illustrators swarmed to the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Boscoreale</span> Any of several Roman villas discovered in the district of Boscoreale, Italy

Villa Boscoreale is a name given to any of several Roman villas discovered in the district of Boscoreale, Italy. They were all buried and preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, along with Pompeii and Herculaneum. The only one visible in situ today is the Villa Regina, the others being reburied soon after their discovery. Although these villas can be classified as "rustic" rather than of otium due to their agricultural sections and sometimes lack of the most luxurious amenities, they were often embellished with extremely luxurious decorations such as frescoes, testifying to the wealth of the owners. Among the most important finds are the exquisite frescoes from the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor and the sumptuous silver collection of the Villa della Pisanella, which are now displayed in several major museums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Fiorelli</span>

Giuseppe Fiorelli was an Italian archaeologist. His excavations at Pompeii helped preserve the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pompeii</span> Ancient Roman city near modern Naples, Italy

Pompeii was an ancient city located in what is now the comune of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, was buried under 4 to 6 m of volcanic ash and pumice in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvatore Petruolo</span> Italian painter

Salvatore Petruolo, was an Italian painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano</span> Art museum, Historic site in Napoli, Italy

The Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano is a Baroque palace located on Via Toledo number 185 in the quartiere San Ferdinando of central Naples, Italy. It is also called the Palazzo Zevallos or Palazzo Colonna di Stigliano, and since 2014 serves as a museum of artworks, mainly spanning the 17th through the early 20th centuries, sponsored by the Cultural Project of the bank Intesa Sanpaolo. This museum is linked to the Museum or Gallerie di Piazza Scala in Milan and the Museum at Palazzo Leoni Montanari in Vicenza, also owned by the Bank.

The conservation and restoration of Pompeian frescoes describes the activities, methods, and techniques that have historically been and are currently being used to care for the preserved remains of the frescoes from the archeological site of Pompeii, Italy. The ancient city of Pompeii is famously known for its demise in A.D. 79 after the fatal eruption of Mount Vesuvius wiped out the population and buried the city beneath layers of compact lava material. In 1738, King Charles III or Charles of Bourbon, began explorations in Portici, Resina, Castellammare di Stabia, a Civita, where it was believed that the ancient cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum were buried beneath. The first phase of the excavations at Pompeii started in 1748, which led to the first conservation and restoration efforts of the frescoes since their burial, and in 1764, open-air excavations began at Pompeii. Pompeii has a long history of excavation and restoration that began without a strong foundation or strategy. After centuries of cronyism, recurring financial shortages, and on-again-off-again restoration, the city's frescoes and structures were left in poor condition. In 1997, Pompeii was added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign influences on Pompeii</span>

Several non-native societies had an influence on Ancient Pompeian culture. Historians’ interpretation of artefacts, preserved by the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, identify that such foreign influences came largely from Greek and Hellenistic cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt. Greek influences were transmitted to Pompeii via the Greek colonies in Magna Graecia, which were formed in the 8th century BC. Hellenistic influences originated from Roman commerce, and later conquest of Egypt from the 2nd century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Bazzani</span> Italian painter

Luigi Bazzani, also called Il Bazzanetto, was an Italian painter, illustrator, and watercolorist. He was born November 8, 1836, in Bologna, Italy. Bazzani studied at Bologna's Accademia di Belle Arti then traveled to France, Germany and, eventually, Rome where he settled down in 1861 and began to specialize in genre and landscape subjects as well as set designs for theaters. Many of his paintings featured the remains of the city's monuments from classical antiquity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of the Prince of Naples</span> Roman townhouse in Pompeii

The House of the Prince of Naples is a Roman domus (townhouse) located in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii near Naples, Italy. The structure is so named because the Prince and Princess of Naples attended a ceremonial excavation of selected rooms there in 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of the Greek Epigrams</span> Roman townhouse in Pompeii

The House of the Greek Epigrams is a Roman residence in the ancient town of Pompeii that was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. It is named after wall paintings with inscriptions from Greek epigrams in a small room (y) next to the peristyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of the Small Fountain</span> Roman townhouse in Pompeii

The House of the Small Fountain, aka House of the Second Fountain or House of the Landscapes, is located in the Roman city of Pompeii and, with the rest of Pompeii, was preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in or after October 79 CE. It is located on the Via di Mercurio, a street running north from the Arch of Caligula, at its crossroads with Via delle Terme, and Via della Fortuna, to Pompeii's fortification tower XI in the northwest part of the city. The street is named after a public fountain at VI.8.24 with a relief of the god, Mercury. Insula 8 is on the west side of the street. The house is named after a mosaic fountain adorned with shells at the rear of its peristyle. The property is immediately adjacent to The House of the Large Fountain, a structure with an even larger mosaic fountain adorned with shells and marble sculptures of theatrical masks excavated earlier in 1826. So the size difference between the fountains was used to distinguish the two structures.