THE PAINTING OF FONTANESI

In the Sala Reale (Royal Room), on the first floor, a masterpiece by Antonio Fontanesi is on display, unveiled in 1864 at the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Turin. The canvas, entitled Altacomba, ricordo della fontana delle meraviglie (Hautecombe, memory of the fountain of wonders), depicts a locality near the famous French Abbey, burial place of the Savoy family, on Lake Bourget. Antonio Fontanesi was born in Reggio Emilia in 1818 where he studied painting at the school of fine arts. Thanks to his travels in Geneva, Paris and London he came into contact with many artists and specialised in landscape painting. He taught at the Accademia di Lucca (Lucca Academy of Fine Arts) and the Albertina (Albertina Academy of Fine Arts) in Turin, where he died in 1882. Most of his works are held in the Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Musei Civici (City Museums) of Reggio Emilia.