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Antonio Ciseri

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Artist

The Resume

    (October 25, 1821-March 8, 1891)
    Born in Ronca sopra Ascona, Switzerland
    Painter specializing in religious subjects
    Trained at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts
    Best known for the famous 'Ecce Homo' ('Behold the Man') painting (commissioned 1870-71; unveiled in 1891)
    Other works include 'The Transport of Christ to the Sepulchre,' 'Portrait of a Lady,' 'Scena Storica,' 'Penitent Magdalene,' 'Portraid of Renato Fucini,' and 'Portrait of Freancesco Domenico'

Why he might be annoying:

    Surprisingly little is known about him, either personally or professionally.
    As he advanced into old age, his career as a portraitist dried up (photography all but insured that the field was 'a dying art').
    The Santa Croce Basilia Gallery in Florence displays a piece of artwork called 'Pregnant Nun' - accredited to his hand.
    His 'Behold the Man' painting is instantly recognizable, but outside the art community, few can actually identify him as the artist.
    Those non-historians who CAN name him as the artist usually have a hard time naming a second work of his (sometimes they come up with 'The Transport of Christ' but usually they come up dry).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was raised by an Italian-speaking Swiss family.
    When his family moved to Florence, in his teens, he worked in the family trade as a decorative painter.
    He was a pupil of the esteemed Pietro Benvenuti and Giuseppe Bezzuoli.
    Into the 1860s, as his circle of acquaintances expanded, he found himself gravitating toward pre-Raphaelite 'purism.'
    He painted portraits for Camillo the Count of Cavour and King Umberto I.
    That 'Ecce Homo' is often mistakenly dated back to the Renaissance is a testament to how closely he sought to the Raphaelesque style.
    Post-1849, he offered instruction to young painters, eventually opening a private art school.
    Some of his students went on to become very successful in their own right, including Uruguayan painter Juan Manuel Blanes and Italian realist Silvestro Lega.
    He was honored by the Universal Exposition of Vienna, who presented him with a gold medal (1873).
    He spent twenty years working on the 'Ecce Homo' masterpiece, and it was exhibited posthumously.
    His work is known for its sharp, realistic contrast in lighting/shadow (its no surprise that many believe the 'Ecce Homo' painting influenced the stylistic design of Mel Gibson's 'Passion of the Christ').

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 26 Votes: 42.31% Annoying