Dal romanticismo al simbolismo: il respiro europeo della pittura di Domenico Morelli nella proposta di Vittorio Pica

Drawing upon unpublished documentation, this article reconsiders Vittorio Pica’s interests in DomenicoMorelli’s painting within the broader context of contemporary European art. The essay reviews some important events and aspects, such as the organization of Morelli’s solo show at the Venice Biennale in 1901, the critical writings published on that occasion, the appreciation of his graphic activity and, in particular, of his drawings for the Illustrated Bible of Amsterdam, as well as his inclusion among the artists of both the Esposizione internazionale del bianco e nero in Rome in 1902 and the Mostra nazionale di belle arti during the Sempione Exhibition in Milan in 1906. The association with Puvis de Chavannes or Böcklin’s work, in Pica’s proposal, placed Morelli in a distinctive class of history painters who, from Romanticism to Symbolism, revolutionized the genre in the second half of the Nineteenth Century in Europe.