Landscapes
Only a few landscapes by Donatus Buongiorno have been located, and they are all of Italian scenes.
Abruzzo
Circa 1900–1930
Oil on canvas
20 x 26 in.
Collection of Janice Carapellucci
This painting came in a frame labeled "Abruzzo." I've tried to identify the town in this scene based on the church's uniquely shaped roofline and its Byzantine-style, onion-domed campanile (bell tower) without success.
One helpful person pointed out that the boundaries of Abruzzo have changed since the 1930s (when Buongiorno died), and it might be Chiesa dell’Annunziata (Church of the Annunciation) in Venafro which is now in the province of Molise.
I'm not convinced. (But I will still buy her supper!) That church has a differently shaped front facade, a different number of windows in its bell tower, and it doesn't have a road or long vista in front of it.
Do you know what town this is? Also, are those buildings really listing sideways, or is this picture crooked in its frame? Somebody, help me!
House on Rocks
Circa 1915–1917
Oil on canvas
20-1/4 x 10-1/4 in.
Collection of Janice Carapellucci
The location of this house is unknown. Do you recognize it? My guess would be on an island in the Gulf of Naples, but this island looks so small that the house could tip off it at any moment. Maybe it's a fantasy scene.
I Faraglioni di Capri
Circa 1900–1930
Oil on canvas
8 x 10 in.
Collection of Janice Carapellucci
This rock out-cropping is a famous site on the southeast edge of the island of Capri, a short ferry ride from Naples. Painted by many artists over the centuries, Donatus Buongiorno also took his turn. He may have sold this painting to an American tourist in Italy. It made its way to me by way of a very nice dealer in California. One of the pleasures of collecting is imagining the journey that paintings have taken—longer than the lifetime journeys of many people!
La Porta Capuana
Circa 1890–1900
Oil on canvas
31 x 22-1/2 in.
Private collection
A vestige of the medieval walls of Naples, the Capuana Gate still stands as a landmark in the Porta Capuana neighborhood today. It is located on the eastern terminus of Via Cesare Rosaroll, the street in Naples where my grandfather lived in 1906; he referred to the gate in his 1972 memoir. Presumably Donatus Buongiorno also knew this area and perhaps stayed nearby when he visited Naples.
This painting was owned by my grandfather and has descended in my family. Donatus Buongiorno may have created it for him as a keepsake of "the old country" or "home." Though my grandfather was an enthusiastic assimilator who never spoke Italian or pined for Italy, he did display this painting prominently in his home, so maybe his sentimentality was not as far beneath the surface as we thought.
Venetian Veduta (Venetian View)
Circa 1890
Oil on canvas
11-3/4 x 9-1/2 in.
Collection of Janice Carapellucci
The campanile (bell tower) in the background is of the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari church (called simply "the Frari".) There is a painting of the exact same image (though larger and much more detailed) by another Italian artist, Rubens Santoro and paintings of similar scenes by many other Italian artists.
Because the figure is not well drawn (which I know Buongiorno could eventually do), I suspect this was an early work of his, perhaps completed while he was a student. In European art academies, students often copied the work of their teachers as exercises.
Did Ruben Santoro teach at the Accademia in Naples? I would love to hear from someone who knows.
Do you own a similar scene or know anything about "Venetian Vedute" paintings? If so, please tell me!
