Pier Celestino Gilardi

For the Italian artist born in 1942, see Piero Gilardi.

Pier Celestino Gilardi (16 September 1837 – 4 October 1905) was an Italian painter and sculptor.

Early life and education Born in Campertogno, the son of a sculptor, Gilardi studied at the Technical School of carving in Varallo and then, thanks to a scholarship of the Collegio Caccia of Novara, he enrolled at the Accademia Albertina in Turin, studying painting under Andrea Gastaldi. He held his first exhibitions in 1862.

Career A Visit to the Gallery, 1877, oil on canvas, University of Michigan Museum of Art. The scene is thought to depict the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Between 1873 and 1884 Gilardi was assistant of Gastaldi at the Accademia Albertina, and in 1884 was promoted to the role of professor of drawing. In 1889 he succeeded to Gastaldi as professor of painting.

Among his pupils were Giovanni Guarlotti and Giovanni Rava.

Notable work One of Gilardi's notable paintings is the 1877 piece A Visit to the Gallery, which the University of Michigan Museum of Art acquired in 1895. possibly the Venus de Medici at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.