Initially an intimist painter, devoted to small still lifes, then to collage and suggestions of American pop-art until his heyday in the 1970s. An artist of great talent and humanity, with his painted nativity scene he contributed significantly to the rebirth of Salerno’s historic center.
Pittore
Born in Tramonti on the Amalfi Coast, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples with masters Vincenzo Ciardo and Emilio Notte. Travels to Paris, Madrid and Munich, as well as frequentations with intellectuals of the caliber of Alfonso Gatto, Raphael Alberti, Edoardo Sanguineti, Marcello Venturoli, Duilio Morosini, Alberico Sala, Paolo Ricci, and Vasco Pratolini were fundamental in his cultural and artistic formation.
His first solo exhibition in Via dei Mercanti in Salerno, a city that would welcome the artist until his last day, was in 1953. His life, in fact, was divided between the charming and much-loved historic center of Salerno and the town of Minori, another place of inspiration for his most beautiful canvases dedicated to the sea and the Mediterranean beauty of the Coast.
The artist created several works intended for public spaces, among them the decorative panels for the Salerno Municipal Polyclinic (1967), the Civil Hospital in Pagani (1967), the fresco for the Conference Room of the Order of Physicians (1968), and the large panel for the national headquarters of the State Monopolies in Rome.
His “great work” is Presepe Dipinto (Painted Nativity), inaugurated in 1982 and kept in the St. Lazarus Hall of Salerno Cathedral, which represents a heritage of great artistic value. The idea came from his former student Peppe Natella and was immediately a great success because he was able to tell the story of the people of the neighborhood gravitating around the historic center of Salerno. The artist in his more than 100 pieces, shaped and hand-painted life-size, depicted the humble and the important person integrating them into his original nativity scene without distinction, as in a healthy and supportive community.
The work is a landmark in the city center and an unmissable event for Salerno residents and the many tourists who flock to the halls of the Cathedral during the Christmas season.
