MACCHIAIOLI
With this designation is indicated a group of painters active in Tuscany, especially in Florence, in the second half of the 19th century, whose work, while assuming and maintaining particular and individual characteristics, fits within the broader movement aimed at the disintegration of ancient pictorial languages that culminated in French Impressionist painting of that period (v. IMPRESSIONISM).
These characteristics initially stemmed from the polemical stance of the Macchiaioli against academic purism and the affected Raphaelism; thus, the Macchiaioli drew on one hand directly from the study of 15th-century Tuscan painting, and on the other from the methods characteristic of French landscape painters of the 1830s (the Fontainebleau and Barbizon schools), following the example of which they focused on the study and rendering of reality, particularly landscapes and figures placed in full light, outdoors.
The results of their actual anti-academic and realist activity, which unfolded primarily between 1855 and 1862 in the Florentine countryside but also in Liguria and Veneto, were exhibited by this group of young painters in Florence in 1862 at the 'Società Promotrice.' These were mostly landscape studies, which their authors called 'macchie' (spots or patches).
This term, which in older painters still means a quick sketch, especially of an outdoor landscape, initially gave rise to a misunderstanding when the critic of the *Gazzetta del Popolo* used the label 'Macchiaioli' for the authors of these paintings, assigning to the term essentially the value that a common person might give it—i.e., a daredevil, a reckless innovator, a troublemaker. The ten painters who had taken part in this exhibition were: C. Banti of Santa Croce sull’Arno, G. Fattori of Livorno, Vito d’Ancona of Pesaro, S. de Tivoli (also of Livorno), G. Abbati (a Venetian), O. Borrani of Pisa, T. Signorini, R. Sernesi and A. Cecioni of Florence, and V. VERONICA. Soon after, the group also included S. Lega of Romagna and, for a brief period, G. Boldini of Ferrara and Nino Costa of Rome. The latter, due to his extensive experience and knowledge of European painting, exerted a significant clarifying influence when he was in Florence between 1859 and 1861, helping the Macchiaioli to move beyond the merely technical phase of the 'macchia.' The group of young painters thus readily accepted the label 'Macchiaioli,' even though T. Signorini first and A. Cecioni later—with greater critical insight—intervened to clarify the meaning they attributed to the term. 'Many,' wrote Cecioni, 'believe that "macchia" means a sketch... the macchia is the foundation of the painting. The studies of form and the search for detail serve to account for the parts.'
In other words, the Macchiaioli’s method involved painting in zones or patches of clear, bold colors, sometimes outlined with brown lines to define planes and volumes with extreme clarity, without preventing—especially in a later phase of their work—precise and tasteful details, whether in landscapes or interiors (e.g., S. Lega, T. Signorini, V. Cabianca).
It is certain, however, that the painting of the Macchiaioli, while connected—as has been said—to that of the French painters of the 1830s and contemporary with the research of the Impressionist movement of the second half of the century, was not burdened by excessive imitative tendencies. Indeed, their direct knowledge of French art—shared by Banti, Signorini, Cabianca, and thus Cecioni—around 1870, when the Impressionist movement had assumed extraordinary importance, did not alter their pictorial approach, which was essentially aimed at defining plastic masses and chromatic fields through evident or implied drawing, achieved by the precise, stark, raw juxtaposition of color 'patches.' Therefore, the Macchiaioli’s research, though provincial in nature and even distantly linked to tradition, can be seen as asserting a tone of frank independence in relation to the very different goals pursued by French Impressionist painting.
This observation, which does not imply qualitative judgments or precedence, was implicitly made by Diego Martelli himself, the leading Italian critic of modern painting in the 19th century, who, as R. Longhi recently recalled, clarified that the nature of French Impressionist research was essentially chromatic, while that of the Macchiaioli was essentially chiaroscural.
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McCLOSKEY, JOHN
First American cardinal, b. in Brooklyn (New York) on 20 March 1810, d. in New York on 10 Oct. 1885. Ordained a priest in 1834, he taught philosophy at the new seminary in Nyack. From 1835 to 1837 he was in Rome; upon his return to America, he served as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in New York. In 1844 he became auxiliary bishop of New York, and in 1847 the first bishop of Albany.
The Catholic population, both due to the pastor’s zeal and the continuous influx of immigration, was steadily increasing, and with it grew the number of priests and churches. The cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, the theological seminary of St. John in Troy, schools, and orphanages bear witness to the diligent activity of the first bishop of Albany. At the time of his appointment, the diocese had about 25 churches with thirty-four priests, two orphanages, and a few schools; after fourteen years, in 1861, the number of churches had risen to 117, with twenty-seven schools and six orphanages. On 6 May 1864 McCloskey was called to lead the archdiocese of New York. He participated in the First Vatican Council, where he served on the commission for discipline. Pius IX created him cardinal with the title of Santa Maria sopra Minerva on 15 March 1875. On 25 May 1879 he consecrated St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
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McCLOSKEY, WILLIAM GEORGE
American prelate, b. in Brooklyn (New York) on 10 Nov. 1823, d. in Louisville (Kentucky) on 17 Sept. 1909.
Ordained a priest in 1857, he taught moral theology, Sacred Scripture, and Latin for six years at Mount St. Mary’s College. In 1859 he was unanimously chosen by all the American bishops to become the first rector of the American College in Rome.
He led the College during the extremely difficult period of the American Civil War, when the conflicts and hatreds between North and South, between Union and Confederacy, had their repercussions within the College. He became bishop of Louisville in 1868; energetic, resolute, and tenacious, he carried out indefatigable work in his diocese. At the time of his appointment, he found 64 churches and 80 priests; at his death, the number of churches had reached 165, and priests had grown to 200.