Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.
FRACASSINI, CESARE - Painter, born in Roma on 18 Dec. 1838, died there on 13 Dec. 1868.
A pupil of the Accademia di S. Luca and of Minardi, drawn by the Romantic current, he turned towards compositions on historical subjects, while nascent Realism found him among the earliest advocates of painting controlled by reality. Despite the hybridism of these conflicting currents, F. was able to unite the contributions of different fashions and styles.
Evidence of this, in the field of sacred art, which he especially favoured, is the canvas of the Martyrs of Garcumeni (1867) in the Museum
(phot. Alinari)
FRACASSINI, CESARE - The Garcumian martyrs (1867) - Gallery of Modern Paintings of the Vatican.
Vatican and, in the same collection, the painting for the beatification of Pietro Canisio (1864). Pio IX commissioned him to decorate in fresco the triumphal arch and the walls of the basilica of S. Lorenzo, but the master died when he had completed the arch and three panels: The ordination of s. Stefano, S. Lorenzo distributes alms to the poor, S. Lorenzo presents the poor to Valeriano. Of the series, completed by Mei, Grandi, and Mariani, only one composition remains, The ordination of s. Stefano, the others having been destroyed in the bombing of 19 July 1943.
BIBL.: E. Narducci, C. S. F., Roma 1869; F. Nosch, s. V. in Thieme-Becker, XII, pp. 290-71; S. Kambo, C. F. Discurso nel cinquantesimo della morte, Roma 1918; P. D'Achiardi, C. F., in L'Urbe, 3 (1928, XII). Corrado Mezzana
Cite this article
“FRACASSINI, CESARE.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V (1950), p. 927. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/fracassini-cesare.
