MUSSINI, AUGUSTO, FRA' PAOLO. - Painter, born at Reggio Emilia on 20 January 1870, died at Rome on 1 November 1918. Having soon become known as the author of fine portraits and genre compositions, in keeping with the fashion of the late nineteenth century, in 1903 he entered the Franciscan Order under the name Fra' Paolo.
From then on his interest turned decisively toward painting of sacred subjects, and he sought to reinvigorate its tradition through the study of Italian sacred art of the past and the achievements of modern pictorial culture.
His principal works include: the frescoes in the Capuchin church at Borgo Soletà in Ascoli Piceno; the portrait of Fr. Bernardino Gavasci in the Capuchin convent of Ascoli Piceno; Visione Francescana for the Capuchin church at Faenza; and the Misteri del Rosario for the church of S. Gregorio at Caldarola. Other paintings by him are in the church of Quintodecimo, also near Ascoli Piceno, and in the Capuchin churches of Ancona and Jesi.