Biography
Italian painter and antiquarian Augusto Alberici was a keen observer of people, places and the architecture of his native country.
Born in Rome and trained at the Accademia di San Luca, he painted landscapes, bustling street scenes, historical subjects and military episodes, while also developing a serious interest in antiquities and numismatics. At first glance, many of his views belong comfortably within the 19th-century taste for picturesque Italy. Yet his interest in such places ran deeper than their appeal to travellers. Ancient monuments frequently appear not as isolated relics but as functioning parts of contemporary life, surrounded by traders, children, animals and passers-by. In Alberici's paintings, the past and present comfortably inhabit the same space.
His instinct for recording the world around him occasionally gave his work an unintended documentary importance. In August 1902, he painted the Corso Vittorio Emanuele beside the harbour at Messina, capturing its boats, tramlines, architecture and inhabitants on an apparently ordinary summer's day. Six years later, the earthquake and tsunami of 1908 devastated much of the city. Alberici could not have foreseen the significance his view would acquire; he had simply done what interested him throughout his career - observed a place and the life unfolding within it. By recording the present, he sometimes preserved what was about to become the past.
Known For
Italian landscapes and urban views; architectural and archaeological subjects; genre scenes; historical and military painting.
Student Of
Professor Toglietti; Francesco Coghetti (1801/02–1875)
Studied at the Accademia di San Luca, Rome.
Lived In
Rome, Italy
Born in the Trastevere district and remained closely associated with Rome throughout his career. He also travelled within Italy in search of subjects, including Messina in Sicily.
Public Collections
Works by Alberici are held in Italian institutional collections, though much of his known output remains in private collections.
Timeline
1846
Born in September in Trastevere, Rome, to a Roman mother and a father from Gaeta who worked as a sea captain.
1860s-1870s
Studied landscape and history painting at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, where he was taught by Professor Toglietti and is also recorded as a pupil of Francesco Coghetti.
Early career
Received the support of the engineer Giovanni Battista Marotti and Giovanni Frontini, two early patrons whom Alberici subsequently remembered with gratitude.
1882
Dated The Young Shepherd, demonstrating his established interest in rural genre subjects.
1880s
Produced numerous landscapes, Roman views and historical compositions. Recorded subjects include The Return from the Campaign, The Battle of Crescentino Fought by Emanuele Filiberto and Julius Caesar Crossing the Rubicon.
1889
Painted Battaglia campale (Pitched Battle), reflecting his longstanding interest in military history.
1890
Dated works include Village Life and Lazio Village, combining landscape with observations of everyday Italian life.
1890s
Continued to paint Roman streets, architectural subjects and genre scenes. His views frequently incorporated ancient monuments into contemporary settings populated by traders and townspeople.
1899
Dated Studio academico, demonstrating the academic foundations underpinning his varied practice.
August 1902
Painted Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Messina, a lively view of the harbour-front city with boats, tramlines, carriages and pedestrians. Much of Messina was destroyed by the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of December 1908, giving Alberici's earlier observation considerable documentary interest.
Later career
Continued his parallel activities as painter, antiquarian and collector. His home was described as richly furnished with a gallery of antique objects and a significant numismatic collection.
First World War
Despite being approaching seventy when Italy entered the conflict, Alberici continued his interest in military subjects, producing images of Bersaglieri and Alpini soldiers in the trenches.
1922
Died, aged 75.