'Spring in the Soana Valley' by Anselmo Sacerdote, 1903, Dolomites, Piedmont, Gran Paradiso National Park

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Incised signature lower left, 'A. Sacerdote' for Anselmo Sacerdote (Italian, 1868-1923), titled, lower right, 'Val Soana' and dated August, 1903.

… Read more Incised signature lower left, 'A. Sacerdote' for Anselmo Sacerdote (Italian, 1868-1923), titled, lower right, 'Val Soana' and dated August, 1903.

Anselmo Sacerdote was born in Turin and first apprenticed in the studio of Vittorio Avondo, the director of the Museo Civico of Turin, (predecessor of the present Museo Civico d'Arte Antica). From 1903, Sacerdote exhibited at both the Società Promotrice delle Belle Arti and with the Turinese Circle of Artists. He was later appointed the secretary-conservator at the Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, a position that he held for 23 years.

Sacerdote was influenced by academic landscape painters including Lorenzo Delleani and the so-called School of Rivara. This latter group painted outdoors on scene, and were interested in capturing fleeting atmospheric seasons, times, and weather of the mountains and valleys. Among his colleagues who specialized in painting the Piedmontese alpine valleys, were Vittorio Cavalleri, Giovanni Colmo, and Carlo Pollonera.

An early camera enthusiast, Sacerdote often took pictures to help him work up his painting in the studio. The area of the North-Western Italian Alps where the artist liked to paint is now home to the Gran Paradiso National Park. A protected area, it is home to many protected species including ibex and chamois. See less