Carlo Bossoli

Carlo Bossoli (6 December 1815, in Lugano – 1 August 1884, in Turin) was a Swiss-born Italian painter and lithographer, who spent his early career in Russia. He is best known for historical scenes from the Risorgimento.

Biography

His father was a stonemason of Italian origin, working in Switzerland. In 1820, his family moved to accept work in Odessa. Until 1826, he studied with the Capuchins. After graduating, he worked in a shop that sold antiquarian books and prints. It was there that he began to draw and sketch. In 1828, he was hired by the Odessa Opera to work as an assistant to Rinaldo Nannini,

After seeing them, young Prince Oddone, Duke of Montferrat gave him a commission to follow the Piedmontese Army and make a record of its campaigns. The result was an album of 150 tempera paintings and the Prince declared him to be "the painter of our history". He fell ill with a fever at this time and his productivity declined dramatically. He divided his time between decorating his home to resemble the Vorontsov Palace and doting on his nephew.

In 1883, at the age of sixty-eight, he married Adelaide De Carolis, who was only twenty-one. The marriage was generally believed to be a financial arrangement. The following year, he died of a heart attack. He was buried in Lugano and a street in Turin is named after him.

Selected paintings