Giuseppe Calì | |
|---|---|
 Calìc. 1890 | |
| Born | (1846-08-14)14 August 1846 Valletta,Crown Colony of Malta |
| Died | 1 March 1930(1930-03-01) (aged 83) Valletta, Crown Colony of Malta |
| Nationality | Maltese |
| Education | Giuseppe Mancinelli |
| Alma mater | Accademia delle Belle Arti |
| Notable work | Death of Dragut |
Giuseppe Calì (14 August 1846 – 1 March 1930) was aMaltese painter ofItalian descent.
Born inValletta, Calì was baptised at theDominican Parish Church of Porto Salvo, one of the seven offsprings of the artist and musician Raffaele Calì, set designer at theRoyal Theatre,[1] and of mezzosoprano Giovanna Padiglione.[2]His parents, who were from Naples, had moved to British Malta in 1840.[3]
At age 19, in 1865, thanks to the generosity of the merchant William Stephen Eynaud,[1] Calì moved toNaples to further his artistic formation at theAccademia di Belle Arti, where he studied under neoclassicistGiuseppe Mancinelli (1812-1875). Rather than following Mancinelli's style, the young Calì was attracted by the anti-academicDomenico Morelli (1826-1901), a follower of theVerismo movement. In Naples, Calì also grew closer to Romanticism and to the ItalianRisorgimento. He made return to Valletta two years later, in 1867,[3] summoned by his terrified parents who were told that their son planned to join Garibaldi in his latest attempt to overthrow the Papal States.[1]
His first major work,The Death of Dragut from 1867, is still deemed a masterpiece; it was purchased by the government and placed on permanent display in the armory of theGrandmaster's Palace, Valletta - then later at the Museum of Fine Arts, today's MUŻA.[4] The influences of both Mancinelli and Morelli are visible in theDeath of Dragut and in other works of his early period.[5][6]
Calì's art soon found wide acceptance in Malta, where he got employed in decorating private houses with landscapes and portraits. Only after 1870 Calì started to accept Church commissions.[3] In 1881 he pained St. Jerome at the Sacro Cuor Church in Sliema, also deemed among his major works.[4]
Calì married Perennia Pace from Senglea in 1871, with whom had 11 children. In order to sustain the family, he got employed as art teacher at the Lyceum.[3]
As an established authority in the artistic scene in the island, Calì started to grow his own school, favouring the style ofVerismo over the rampant Neo-Classicism and academicism. Among his students were his sonRamiro Raffaele Calì,Raphael Bonnici Calì,Gianni Vella andIgnatio Cefai.[3]
He died in Valletta and was commemorated by the Republic of Malta with a series of four postage stamps in 1996, and a coin in 2004. His sonRamiro Calì was also a painter. Abust of him is located behind theMalta Stock Exchange in theUpper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta.
Giuseppe Calì was a very prolific artist, almost every major church in Malta prides itself on his work. He worked very quickly, and according to one of his grandsons he was calledix-xitan tal-pinzell ("devil of the brush"). His performance was enormous; during his lifetime he made more than 600 different compositions[6] (according to some sources - about 2,000[5]) consisting of an impressive variety of paintings, drawings, bozzetti, portraits and decorations of church vaults, as well as a number of sculptures and lithography. Unfortunately, many of them were lost duringWorld War II, such as the crucifixion in the Stella Maris church in Sliema.[5][6]
The influence of Romanticism, which the artist became acquainted with in Naples, is evident in most of his early works, such as the painting of the altar of the parish church in Mosta,Our Lady of the Rosary (1870), his first work for churches after his return from Italy, and theSaint Lawrence (1881) andSaint Jerome (1882) in theSacro Cuor church in Sliema. The latter is widely recognized as a masterpiece of the genre.[6] This style is also visible in the works from 1885:Saint Joseph with Child for the parish church of St. Cajetan in Ħamrun and theMartyrdom of St. Demetrius for the parish church of Maria Bambina in Senglea.[5] Calì has also done several works in collaboration with artistCarlo Ignazio Cortis, including for the Parish Church of St. Lawrence in Birgu and the Church of the Savior in Lija.[6] At the end of the 19th century, he also worked on some side paintings, such as the one for the Church of the Annunciation in Tarxien, and the painting of Saint Dominic for thePorto Salvo parish church in Valletta, where he was baptized.[5][6]
Calì has worked on many private home decoration assignments, including a series of four putti entitledThe Four Seasons in the entrance hall ofVilla Alhambra in Sliema, property of the architectEmanuele Luigi Galizia.[7]He also had a great influence on Maltese society, he painted about fifty portraits of famous people in Malta. This should include the portraits of Cardinal Lavigerie (1884), Cardinal Logue (1886), as well as GovernorRichard More O'Ferrall, MarquisEmanuele Scicluna,Giovanni Battista Schembri, Achille Camilleri, Edward V. Ferro, SirVictor Houlton,[5] Judge SirAdrian Dingli, Rector of UniversityNapoleone Tagliaferro,Pope Pius IX, Judge Paolo Debono, Count and Countess of Messina, and Lord and Lady Strickland.[6]
The proscenium arch of the Teatru Salesjan inSliema, Malta was decorated in 1910 with the reminiscent oil on stone painting entitled The Virtues of Mankind. The painting is surrounded by rich bas-relief, pre-art deco stucco decorations full of symbolism.
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