Publio de Tommasi (1848–1914) stands as a significant figure in late 19th and early 20th-century Italian art. An accomplished painter and particularly renowned watercolourist, Tommasi carved a niche for himself with his charming and meticulously detailed genre scenes, often featuring figures in traditional or historical attire. His work captures the spirit of a bygone era, appealing to both local patrons and the burgeoning international tourist market, particularly those undertaking the Grand Tour. Trained in the academic tradition yet responsive to contemporary tastes, Tommasi's legacy is one of refined craftsmanship and evocative storytelling.
Early Life and Artistic Formation in Rome
Born in Rome in 1848, Publio de Tommasi emerged during a period of significant cultural and political transition in Italy. The city of Rome, with its rich artistic heritage and vibrant contemporary art scene, provided an ideal environment for a budding artist. Tommasi pursued his formal artistic education at the prestigious Accademia di San Luca (Roman Academy of Art). This institution, with its long history, was a cornerstone of artistic training in Rome, emphasizing classical principles, life drawing, and the study of Old Masters.
This academic grounding would have provided Tommasi with a strong foundation in draughtsmanship, composition, and anatomy, skills evident throughout his career. Following his studies, he also took on a teaching role at the Municipal Art School in Rome, contributing to the education of a new generation of artists. This dual role as a practicing artist and an educator underscores his commitment to the artistic community of his native city.
The Artistic Milieu of 19th-Century Italy
The 19th century in Italy was a complex period for the arts. While Neoclassicism had dominated the early part of the century, Romanticism, Realism, and various historical revivalist styles gained traction. In Rome, artists catered to a diverse audience, including the Church, the aristocracy, and an increasing number of foreign visitors, especially from Britain and America. The "Grand Tour," a traditional trip through Europe undertaken by young upper-class men (and increasingly women), often culminated in Italy, with Rome as a key destination. These tourists were eager purchasers of art that captured the picturesque beauty, historical resonance, and daily life of Italy.
Genre painting, which depicts scenes from everyday life, became particularly popular. Artists like Tommasi found a ready market for works that were both aesthetically pleasing and offered a glimpse into Italian culture, often romanticized or imbued with a sense of historical charm. This context is crucial for understanding Tommasi's thematic choices and stylistic approach.
Development of a Distinctive Style: Genre and Costume
Publio de Tommasi became particularly well-known for his genre paintings, often set in carefully rendered interiors or picturesque Roman street scenes. A recurring motif in his work is the depiction of women, frequently adorned in traditional regional costumes or attire suggestive of earlier historical periods, such as the 17th or 18th centuries. These "costume pieces" were highly fashionable, appealing to a taste for the historical and the exotic.
His paintings are characterized by their meticulous attention to detail, from the textures of fabrics to the specific elements of an interior setting. He possessed a keen observational skill, capturing subtle gestures and interactions that brought his scenes to life. While his work is rooted in realism, there is often an idealized or romantic quality, evoking a sense of nostalgia or timeless charm. He skillfully balanced narrative interest with decorative appeal.
Mastery in Watercolour
While proficient in oils, Publio de Tommasi showed a particular affinity for watercolour. He reportedly preferred this medium for its softer colour effects and the relative ease with which tints could be applied and blended. Watercolour painting underwent a significant revival and gained new prestige in the 19th century, moving beyond its traditional use for sketches and studies to become a respected medium for finished exhibition pieces.
Tommasi's watercolours are noted for their luminosity, delicate tonal gradations, and refined execution. He exploited the transparency of the medium to create subtle atmospheric effects and rich, yet not overpowering, colour harmonies. His skill in watercolour was recognized by his peers, leading to his membership in the prestigious Roman Watercolourists' Association (Associazione degli Acquarellisti romani).
Notable Works and Exhibitions
Publio de Tommasi's oeuvre includes several works that were exhibited and acclaimed during his lifetime, showcasing his thematic concerns and artistic skill.
One of his early successes was A Game of Chess, exhibited in Milan in 1881. This painting likely depicted a quiet, intimate scene, perhaps set in a well-appointed interior, focusing on the concentration and social interaction of the players – a common theme in genre painting that allowed for detailed rendering of figures and setting.
A particularly significant work is La Processione (The Procession), painted around 1885. This large and ambitious watercolour, depicting a religious procession in Rome, demonstrates his ability to handle complex multi-figure compositions and capture the vibrant atmosphere of public life. This work is now held in the collection of the Galleria Borghese in Rome, a testament to its importance.
In 1896, he exhibited Wedding Gifts at the National Exhibition in Turin. This piece would have likely explored themes of domesticity, celebration, and social customs, allowing Tommasi to showcase his talent for depicting interiors, costumes, and human emotion.
Other works, such as Morning Stroll and Another Day, suggest his continued interest in capturing moments of everyday life, imbued with a sense of warmth and gentle observation. His paintings often featured settings like 17th-century style taverns or antique shops, further enhancing the historical flavour of his scenes.
The Roman Watercolourists' Association
Tommasi's involvement with the Roman Watercolourists' Association (Associazione degli Acquarellisti romani) was a significant aspect of his career. Founded in 1875, this society played a crucial role in promoting watercolour as a serious art form in Italy. Its members included some of the most accomplished watercolourists of the day, and their regular exhibitions provided an important venue for showcasing their work.
Membership in such an association indicated a high level of professional achievement and provided artists with a supportive network and opportunities for exhibition and sales. Tommasi's participation underscores his dedication to the medium and his standing within the Roman art community. Other prominent members or contemporaries active in Roman watercolour circles included artists like Ettore Roesler Franz, famous for his "Vanishing Rome" series, and Enrico Coleman, known for his depictions of the Roman Campagna.
Contemporaries and the Wider Artistic Context
Publio de Tommasi worked during a vibrant period in Italian art, and his style can be understood in relation to various contemporaries. While he focused on genre and costume pieces, other trends were also prevalent.
The Spanish painter Mariano Fortuny y Marsal (1838-1874), though his life was short, had an immense impact on Roman and international art circles with his dazzlingly brilliant technique, vibrant colours, and historical genre scenes, often with an Orientalist or Rococo flavour. While Tommasi’s palette might be considered more subdued, the meticulous detail and historical settings in Fortuny's work resonated with broader European tastes.
In Naples, artists like Domenico Morelli (1823-1901) were exploring historical and religious themes with a dramatic, romantic intensity, often on a grand scale. While different in temperament from Tommasi's more intimate scenes, Morelli's work represents another facet of 19th-century Italian historicism.
The Macchiaioli in Florence, including artists like Telemaco Signorini (1835-1901) and Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908), were pursuing a revolutionary approach to painting based on "macchie" (patches or spots) of colour and light, often depicting contemporary Italian life and landscapes with a fresh, unadorned realism. This was a distinct path from Tommasi's more polished and detailed academic style.
Within Rome itself, artists like Aurelio Tiratelli (1842-1900) and Giuseppe Aureli (1858-1929) also worked in genre and historical costume painting, sometimes sharing similar thematic interests with Tommasi. Tiratelli was known for his scenes of peasant life in the Roman Campagna, while Aureli often painted romantic historical scenes.
The brothers Gustavo Simoni (1846-1926) and Scipione Simoni (1853-1918) were also active in Rome, known for their Orientalist scenes and detailed watercolours, reflecting the period's fascination with exotic cultures. Their meticulous technique in watercolour would have been comparable to Tommasi's.
Alberto Carosi (1891-1967), though of a slightly later generation, was also connected to the Roman art scene and likely would have been aware of Tommasi's work and reputation. Carosi himself became known for his landscapes and genre scenes.
Other Italian artists of the period whose work provides context include Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), who became a celebrated society portraitist in Paris with a flamboyant, dynamic style, and Giuseppe De Nittis (1846-1884), who also found fame in Paris with his elegant depictions of modern urban life. While their subject matter and style differed from Tommasi's, they represent the international success some Italian artists achieved.
Painters like Francesco Paolo Michetti (1851-1929) focused on powerful, realistic depictions of life in the Abruzzo region, often with a strong sense of local character and tradition, somewhat akin to Tommasi's interest in costume but with a more raw, less idealized approach. Antonio Mancini (1852-1930), known for his impasto technique and psychologically penetrating portraits, also represents the diversity of Italian painting at the time.
The tradition of depicting Italian peasant life and landscapes was also strong, with artists like Filippo Palizzi (1818-1899) being a key figure in Neapolitan realism, focusing on animal studies and rural scenes.
International Recognition and the Grand Tour
Tommasi's art found particular favour with British tourists undertaking the Grand Tour. These travellers were often seeking mementos of their Italian sojourn, and Tommasi's charming and accessible scenes of Roman life, often with a historical flavour, perfectly met this demand. His ability to capture the picturesque qualities of Rome and its inhabitants, rendered with technical skill and an appealing narrative quality, made his works highly desirable.
His international reputation was further solidified by successes in exhibitions abroad. Notably, he was awarded a gold medal for his watercolours at the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880-1881. This recognition in a distant continent like Australia speaks to the global reach of European art markets and the appeal of his particular style. His works are now found in museum collections in Melbourne and Sydney, a direct result of this international exposure.
Teaching Career and Influence
Beyond his own artistic production, Publio de Tommasi contributed to the Roman art world as an educator at the Municipal Art School. Teaching provided a stable income and an opportunity to impart his knowledge and skills to younger artists. While the specifics of his teaching methods are not extensively documented, his own work, with its emphasis on careful draughtsmanship, detailed rendering, and harmonious colour, would have served as an example for his students.
His influence would have been felt through his students and through the general appreciation of his work in Roman art circles. As a respected member of the Accademia di San Luca and the Roman Watercolourists' Association, he was part of the established art community that shaped artistic tastes and standards in the city.
A Note on a Minor Controversy
Biographical records indicate a curious episode where Publio de Tommasi was apparently involved in a minor controversy concerning a position as an assistant parish priest in Zebbug, Malta. It is reported that he never formally accepted this ecclesiastical role, and there were rumors or efforts to undermine his suitability for such a position. This incident seems somewhat tangential to his primary identity as an artist in Rome and does not appear to have significantly impacted his artistic career or reputation. It remains a minor footnote in a life predominantly dedicated to the visual arts.
Legacy and Historical Assessment
Publio de Tommasi's art provides a valuable window into the tastes and cultural preoccupations of late 19th-century Italy, particularly in Rome. He excelled in a genre that was immensely popular, catering to both a local and international clientele eager for picturesque and historically evocative scenes. His preference for watercolour and his mastery of the medium contributed to its growing status as a fine art form.
While perhaps not a revolutionary innovator in the vein of the Macchiaioli or the later Futurists, Tommasi was a highly skilled and successful practitioner of academic genre painting. His works are characterized by their charm, meticulous detail, and ability to transport the viewer to an idealized vision of Roman life and history. He captured a sense of nostalgia and romance that resonated deeply with his contemporaries.
His paintings continue to be appreciated today for their technical finesse and their depiction of a world that has largely vanished. They appear in art auctions and are held in public and private collections, attesting to their enduring appeal. As an art historian, one can appreciate Tommasi for his consistent quality, his contribution to the Roman school of painting, and his role in popularizing Italian genre scenes for a wider international audience.
Conclusion
Publio de Tommasi was an artist deeply rooted in the traditions and artistic environment of Rome. His dedication to genre painting and his particular skill as a watercolourist allowed him to create a body of work that was both popular in his own time and continues to hold interest. Through his detailed and often romanticized depictions of everyday life, historical costumes, and Roman settings, he captured a specific sensibility of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His contributions as an artist and teacher ensure his place in the narrative of Italian art of his period, a skilled craftsman who brought charm and elegance to his chosen subjects.
