DE CAROLIS (DE KAROLIS), ADOLFO. — Painter and engraver, born in Montafiore dell'Aso on 6 January 1874 and died in Rome on 7 February 1928. Having joined in Rome the «In arte libertas» group, led by Giovanni Costa, he made his debut with works of a Pre-Raphaelite character (Madonna con angeli, entitled: Laudata sii..., of 1900). Turning to fresco painting, he nourished his spirit with heroic visions of a D'Annunzian character, while at the same time studying the works of Michelangelo and Correggio. His decorative ensembles, always dignified, nevertheless appear to be sustained more by intellectual than by genuinely pictorial values. He decorated the Hall of the Four Thousand in the Palazzo del Podestà in Bologna (1911–28), the Aula Magna of the University of Pisa, the church of S. Francesco in Ravenna, the council chambers of the provinces of Ascoli Piceno and Arezzo, the church of S. Ginesio, the chapel of S. Francesco in the Basilica del Santo in Padua, etc. Yet his religious compositions too often appear more illuminated by the intellect than enlivened by faith and warmed by the heart.
With masterful technique he practised wood engraving, achieving notable results in book decoration: highly esteemed are the friezes and covers he supplied for numerous books by Pascoli and D'Annunzio.