Forlì, August 10, 1845 – Florence, October 22, 1902
Francesco Vinea was an Italian painter known for his period costume genre subjects.
He began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence but had to discontinue due to financial hardship, leading to a period of homelessness and travel. During this time, he worked for a photographer and as a designer for illustrated magazines. Vinea eventually returned to Florence and studied under Professor Enrico Pollastrini for a year.
Unlike some of his academic contemporaries who preferred erudite historical or literary paintings and earnest depictions of natural scenes, Vinea specialized in imaginative, often raffish or coquettish depictions of dramas set in elegant period costumes and richly ornamented interiors. These paintings were popular in England and France, allowing Vinea to live comfortably. His studio on Boulevard Prince Eugene in Florence was a treasure trove of exotic items, eclectic furniture, and decorative objects, which often appeared as ornaments in his paintings. Gubernatis described his studio as his best work of art, with a ceiling painted in tempera depicting Olympic gods in an allegory to the fine arts, and an assortment of collected items stored haphazardly.
Gubernatis further described Vinea’s subject matter as follows:
“Nothing serious, nothing solid, no classical concepts, not robust, no lofty ideas, no deep thoughts. His canvases, like the genre paintings of Meissonier, are well-designed witticisms, smiling color, interiors full of life and of panache, costume scenes preening with grace and trivial levity: everything exudes the fashion of the past salons. Once you have accepted the genre, Vinea is no doubt one of the few who treat it with fertility of imagination, careful study of detail, and splendor of the palette. The subjects of his canvases fade from memory like iridescent soap bubbles flitting from our vision.”
Among his works are **Baccanale di soldati**, **Alla più bella** (a woman in a canteen), **La visita alla nonna**, **Un rapimento**, **Una bagnante**, **Il Vescovo**, and **Un appuntamento**.
The contemporary American art collector James Jackson Jarves commented on Vinea, grouping him thematically with Tito Conti and Edoardo Gelli:
“His sentiment is unrefined and extremely realistic, going, like his strokes of brush, without equivocations or apologetic disguises, directly to his point. In composition, his range is limited and studio-nurtured—mainly free and jovial topics that delight in glancing bits of contrasting color and action, and bric-a-brac displays.”
