CASSIOLI, Amos - b. 1832 Asciano, d. 1891 Firenze

Italian painter. After studying at the Sienese Accademia di belle arti under Luigi Mussini (1813-1888), a bursary from Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany enabled him to study in Rome. At the end of 1860 he established himself in Florence which, although he maintained his links with Siena, became his permanent home.

Regarded as an excellent portraitist, Cassioli is also noted for his large-scale history paintings which include the Battle of Legnano (c. 1870, Palazzo Pitti, Florence). In 1863 he received the first prize of the Tuscan government. His picture of Lorenzo de Medici Showing his Jewels to Ludovico Sforza (now in the collection of Count Saraceni in Siena) first called attention to him, and immediately gave him a high rank as an artist in Italy. Between 1884 and 1886 he executed frescoes in the Sala del Risorgimento of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena depicting the battles of San Martino and Palestro.

His other principal work is Provenzano Solvani Receiving Offerings from the Citizens for Redeeming a Prisoner from Charles I of Puglia (in the Palazzo Publico at Siena). Bianca Cappello and The Studio of Leonardo da Vinci are also pictures worthy of his reputation.

He was known also for paintings on classical subjects; many of these, following a 1991 bequest, are conserved in the Museo Cassioli of his native town Asciano.

The Battle of Legnano

In the wave of the Italian unification movement - the Risorgimento - Cassioli produced more than two hundred canvases with historical subjects. Although at times somewhat stiff in composition, his paintings are rich in detail and meticulously researched. In the Battle of Legnano, Cassioli depicts the defeat, in 1176, of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa by the alliance of the Lombard League, thus confirming the strong will of the northern Italian cities for independence from foreign influence. After a gestation of about a decade, this painting received great acclaim upon its unveiling.