Antonio Mancini, Little Known Italian Master Painter

Antonio who? Chances are you've probably never heard of the nineteenth century Realist painter Antonio Mancini. But if you have, or if you had the pleasure of seeing the recent special exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, you'll wonder how such a great painter slipped through the cracks of art history and became unknown.

At the young age of twelve when other boys were playing street sports, goofing off, and otherwise just plain being young boys, little Antonio was admitted into the Institute of Fine Arts, Naples. At the age of twenty he exhibited two paintings at the Paris Salon. This was an accomplishment for an artist of any age, but for the young artist it would begin a long and prolific career. He would produce painting after painting, masterpieces upon masterpieces.

Mancini was commissioned for high society portraits to earn a living but his favorite subjects were young acrobats and street performers. The "Saltimbanco" seen above was a common subject, with his favorite model Luigiello making common appearances.

In Paris in the 1870s, Mancini met up with the Impressionists Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. More importantly was the meeting of John Singer Sargent who would later call him "the greatest painter who ever lived." That's quite a compliment coming from one of the most successful portrait painters of their time. Sargent was integral in Mancini's success as he introduced him to many of the rich patrons who could never have too many portraits of themselves.

Innovation was a quality this painter possessed. He would invent a grid screen from strings and place it between himself and the sitter. Another grid would be placed in front of the canvas so the perspective would turn out perfect. Sometimes the grid marks would be deliberately kept on the canvas. On some paintings this would be very obvious and would give them much character.

In 1881, Mancini suffered mental illnesses which would land him in a psychiatric hospital. After this time he was still productive with his art, but found hard financial times, relying on friends to stay alive. After World War 1 he was able to once again live comfortably and paint. He died in Rome in 1930.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art had a special exhibition. It showed many portraits in oil and pastel, several self portraits from different phases of his life, many of his saltimbanco Luigiello in different compostions including "After the Duel," "After the Performance" and the huge canvas "Il Saltimbanco" (detail above). Fifteen of the paintings are now a part of the museum's permanent collection as a gift from New York art dealer Vance N. Jordan.