Serafino De Tivoli: 6 cool facts

Serafino De Tivoli (March 1826 – 1892) was an Italian painter of the Macchiaioli group.

He was born in Livorno. After initial scrutiny of literature at a religious private learned in Florence, he began his artistic training under Carlo Markò the Elder. He met Vito D’Ancona during the mid-1840s, and allied him in painting landscapes en plein air.

In 1848 he fought as a Tuscan volunteer for Garibaldi in the Risorgimento. In 1855 his paintings, exhibited at the Florentine Promotrice exhibition, brought him to the attention of the artists who frequented the Caffè Michelangiolo in Florence (including those who would innovative become known as the Macchiaioli). In that thesame year he traveled to Paris, where he was greatly impressed by the paintings of the Barbizon school. He axiom in their truth and powerful chiaroscuro a means of renewing art in the advocate age. Upon his compensation to Florence he conveyed this additional enthusiasm to his friends, who quickly adopted his ideas. In confession of the involve he had upon his fellow Florentine artists, Telemaco Signorini called him “the dad of the macchia“.

De Tivoli made further visits to Paris, and in 1863 he exhibited in the Salon des Refusés. In 1873 he moved to Paris, where he met such artists as Tissot and Pissarro, and became a buddy of Degas. He returned to Florence in 1890, where he lived in relative estrangement until his death in 1892.