Vito D'ancona Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Vito D'Ancona was born in Pesaro in 1825 and grew up in a cultured and refined environment thanks to his uncle Laudadio Della Ripa, a wealthy merchant of Jewish origins. He began to show a certain predisposition for painting following the teachings of the engraver Samuele Jesi, but his passion fully manifested itself only after moving to Florence. Read the full biography

Vito D'Ancona was born in Pesaro in 1825 and grew up in a cultured and refined environment thanks to his uncle Laudadio Della Ripa, a wealthy merchant of Jewish origins. He began to show a certain predisposition for painting following the teachings of the engraver Samuele Jesi, but his passion fully manifested itself only after moving to Florence. Here he attended Giovanni Bezzuoli's courses and took part in the cultural life of the city.
At the age of twenty he participated in the '48 Campaign together with other Florentine artists and intellectuals, to pursue the ideals of the Risorgimento. During his artistic career, he participated in the Promotrice di Firenze and various exhibitions, enjoying success thanks to the great quality of his works.
After meeting Signorini, he undertook a study trip to the main artistic centers of northern Italy. During his stay in Paris, he frequented many local and Italian painters, dedicating himself to intimate and domestic themes concerning the comfortable life of his family. He has executed numerous female nudes and depictions of Ciociare, becoming one of the greatest interpreters of this genre.
Returning to Florence, he engaged in many cultural battles, especially against the growing centralization of Italian artistic life in Rome. In 1877 he received the prize for "A porteclosed" at the Naples Exhibition. He continued to work until the illness that prevented him from painting and which led to his death in 1884 in Florence