Michele Gordigiani (florence 1835 - 1909) - Portrait

He was born into a wealthy family in Florence, where as a young man he trained at the Academy of Fine Arts with Giuseppe Bezzuoli (from 1850). He developed his predisposition for portraits early on, on which he would base his career. With two portraits he made his debut in 1854 at the Esposizione delle Belle Arti in Florence. From the following year, he frequented the Caffè Michelangiolo and became friends with the future 'Macchiaioli' to whom he would always remain close, although he did not share their 'macchie' painting. From this period, Self-portrait (1856, Florence, Uffizi Gallery) and Portrait of Cesare Bartolena (1858), here in the Museum, already show his attention to the rendering of physiognomy and details. His victory at the Ricasoli Competition in 1859 and the Portraits of Camillo Benso di Cavour (1860) and Victor Emmanuel II (1861) (both Turin, National Museum of the Risorgimento), the latter exhibited at the First National Exhibition in Florence in 1861, decreed his success as an official portraitist. From this moment on, he worked in Italy and abroad to immortalise royalty, nobles (such as the three Portraits of Countess Bastogi of 1895 in the Museum), bourgeoisie and men of letters who appreciated his ability to capture features and ennoble them, his great skill in the use of drawing and colour and in the rendering of fabrics and jewellery. He exhibited in Italy, but especially abroad, for example at the Universal Exhibitions in Vienna (1873) Paris (1878, 1889), Antwerp (1885). He died at the age of 74.