Giuseppe De Nigris

He was born in Foggia. In 1848, he left, along with Vincenzo Dattoli, to study in Rome. He was arrested for suspected seditious activity.[1] Repatriated, he moved to Naples, where he had studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples under Giuseppe Mancinelli.[2] He was able to return to Rome in 1859, when Domenico Morelli gave him a letter to allow him to work in the studio of Achille Vertunni. A year later he returned to Naples, which was in patriotic ferment.

Among his works exhibited in Naples were Canzone d' amore, L'ultima Messa, Le cieche operaie, and Vino e donna. In 1887 at Venice, he displayed Il primo ritratto.[3] He painted two still-life arrangements on a bright background presently in England.[4] He was influenced in his still life work by Gioacchino Toma.

In Neapolitan exhibitions, he displayed Christ in the Garden (1855) and Ossian e Malvina (1859). After the 1860s, his subject matter included patriotic and genre themes, in addition to neopompeian subjects. Among the works were Il Campanello della Parrochia;[5] La mano del ladro;[6] Garibaldi dicente: che tristo destino degli uomini lo scannarsi fra loro (1862, Naples); La processione di penitenza nelle catacombe di Napoli (1880); Piccoli gladiatori pompeiani (1870, Parma); Last day of Pompei (1873, Vienna); Ultima messa (1878, Paris); Manichino (1892, Florence); and Lo studio del frenologo Gall (1894, Rome).[7] He was highly prolific in exhibitions, participating in many foreign exhibits including London (1888) and Melbourne (1880).

He completed a four patriotic canvases: Garibaldi dicente, Le impressioni di un quadro, Garibaldi a Caprera, I morti di Mentana, and Les merveilles du Chassepot.[8]

De Nigris died in Naples in 1903.