Fausto Zonaro
Encyclopedia
Young life and early art career
Fausto Zonaro was born in Masi, a municipality in the Province of PaduaProvince of Padua
The Province of Padua is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Padua.-History and territory:...
, in what was then the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, in 1854. He was the eldest child of the mason Maurizio Zonaro and his wife Elisabetta Bertoncin. Maurizio Zonaro intended that his son Fausto should follow him in his profession. Fausto Zonaro however, showed a great ability at drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
even at a very young age.
So, with his parents’ consent, he was enrolled in the Technical Institute in Lendinara
Lendinara
Lendinara is a town and comune in the province of Rovigo, Veneto, northern Italy. It is part of the historical and geographical region of Polesine.It is the birthplace of Domenico Montagnana , one of the world's finest violin and cello makers....
and after that in Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
at the Academy of Fine Arts run by Napoleone Nani. Later he opened a small art school in the city of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, but his work often caused him to spend time in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
as well. He felt no clear direction in his life at that time.
The turning point in Zonaro’s career occurred however in 1891, when, together with Elisabetta Pante, his former Venetian pupil who he had fallen in love with, he decided to travel with her to the capital of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Constantinople
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, now known as Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. They were partly inspired to make this trip by having read Edmondo de Amicis
Edmondo De Amicis
Edmondo De Amicis was an Italian novelist, journalist, poet and short-story writer. His best-known book is the children's novel Heart.-Early career:...
’ travel book Constantinopoli.
İstanbul
In 1892 Zonaro and Pante married, and lived in the part of Constantinople known as PeraBeyoglu
Beyoğlu is a district located on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn...
. In Constantinople, over time he came to the attention of the aristocratic circles, and obtained from them orders for his works.
One of these was Munir Pasha, the Minister of Protocol, who invited him to visit Yıldız Palace
Yildiz Palace
Yıldız Palace is a vast complex of former imperial Ottoman pavilions and villas in Istanbul, Turkey, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used as a residence by the Sultan and his court in the late 19th century.- Origin :...
and meet the prestigious Ottoman artist Osman Hamdi Bey
Osman Hamdi Bey
Osman Hamdi Bey was an Ottoman statesman, intellectual, art expert and also a prominent and pioneering Turkish painter. He was also an accomplished archaeologist, and is considered as the pioneer of the museum curator's profession in Turkey...
. He was then employed in teaching painting to the wife of Munir Pasha, and in this way Zonaro and his wife got to know the important artistic figures of Constantinople of that time. In 1896 he was nominated as the court painter
Court painter
A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were often given the office of valet de chambre...
(Ottoman Turkish
Ottoman Turkish language
The Ottoman Turkish language or Ottoman language is the variety of the Turkish language that was used for administrative and literary purposes in the Ottoman Empire. It borrows extensively from Arabic and Persian, and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
: Ressam-ı Hazret-i Şehriyari) thanks to the intervention of the Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
ambassador who had presented the ruling sultan Abdulhamid II with Zonaro’s work Il reggimento imperiale di Ertugrul sul ponte di Galata (in English: The Imperial Regiment of the Ertugrul on the Galata Bridge), which Abdulhamid II had then purchased.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The Sultan later requested that Zonaro, as court painter, paint other works for him, in particular a series of paintings depicting the time of the 15th-century Ottoman sultan, Mehmed II
Mehmed II
Mehmed II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from...
.
Holding the position of court painter, Zonaro viewed himself as the successor to the Venetian painter Gentile Bellini
Gentile Bellini
Gentile Bellini was an Italian painter. From 1474 he was the official portrait artist for the Doges of Venice.- Biography :...
, who had been commissioned by Mehmed II to paint his portrait over 300 years earlier.
Return to Italy and death
Zonaro remained in Constantinople until 1909, when he returned to Italy following the coup d'étatCoup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
that had overthrown his patron Abdulhamid II. There would be no other Ottoman court painter after him. He settled in Sanremo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
where he continued to paint small works depicting the Italian Riviera
Italian Riviera
The Italian Riviera, or Ligurian Riviera is the narrow coastal strip which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines...
and the nearby French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
until his death.
In 1920 he separated from his wife and began living with his daughter. Nine years later, he died. He is buried in the Foce Cemetery in Sanremo. On his gravestone, underneath an Ottoman tughra
Tughra
A tughra is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of an Ottoman sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. It was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign...
, it states that Zonaro was the court painter of the Ottoman Empire.
Artistic work and reputation
Zonaro painted portraitPortrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s, landscapes
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
and historical paintings
History painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
. It is claimed that “Zonaro was one of those who made a major contribution to the development of western style art in Turkey.” He was a prolific artist who created hundreds of works, most of which are of the Ottoman Empire. An exhibition of his work in Florence in 1977 "received wide acclaim in the art world".
Today, the majority of Zonaro’s works remain in Istanbul, and many of them are on display in the city’s leading museums. His pictures can be found in the state museums of Topkapı Palace
Topkapi Palace
The Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624-year reign....
, Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922, apart from a 22-year interval in which Yıldız Palace was used.- History :Dolmabahçe Palace...
and the Istanbul Military Museum
Istanbul Military Museum
Istanbul Military Museum is dedicated to one thousand years of Turkish military history. It is one of the leading museums of its kind in the world. The museum is open to the public everyday except Mondays and Tuesdays....
. Zonaro’s works can also be found in the private Sakıp Sabancı Museum
Sakip Sabanci Museum
The Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum is a private fine arts museum in Istanbul, Turkey, dedicated to calligraphic art, religious and state documents, as well as paintings of the Ottoman era. The museum was founded by Sakıp Sabancı, and was opened in June 2002...
and Pera Museum
Pera Museum
The Pera Museum , is a private art museum and gallery located in Istanbul, Turkey, which was established in 2005 by the "Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation". Suna Kıraç is the youngest daughter of the late Turkish tycoon Vehbi Koç, and İnan Kıraç her husband...
. Also, a number of them belong to private collectors in Turkey.
Sources
- Fausto Zonaro page :it:Fausto Zonaro on the Italian WikipediaItalian WikipediaThe Italian Wikipedia is the Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on May 11, 2001 and first edited on June 11, 2001. As of 2011 it has over articles and more than registered accounts...
- Fausto Zonaro page :tr:Fausto Zonaro on the Turkish WikipediaTurkish WikipediaTurkish Wikipedia is the Turkish language edition of Wikipedia, spelled Vikipedi. Started in December 2002, this edition has over 166,000 articles, and was the 20th largest Wikipedia edition based on article count as of January 2011....
(Vikipedi) - Ottoman Studies site Osmanlı Araştırmaları: http://www.os-ar.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=166
- faustozonaro.it, a site dedicated to the artist: http://www.faustozonaro.it/biografia.html (in Italian)
- Constantinople City of the World’s Desire 1453-1924 by Philip ManselPhilip ManselPhilip Mansel is a British historian and the author of a number of books about revolutionary and post-revolutionary France and the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire...
External links
- Site containing numerous paintings by the artist which are accessed by clicking on the titles in blue on the right
- Three paintings by the artist at the Art Renewal CenterArt Renewal CenterThe Art Renewal Center is an organization led by New Jersey millionaire, businessman, and art collector Fred Ross dedicated to the promotion of what it terms classical realism in art, as opposed to the Modernist developments of the twentieth century...
- Another painting by the artist at the Art Renewal Center