Artistic Activity of Antonio Solario: Problems of Interpreting Facts and Attributing Works

Abstract

The purpose of the article is the systemisation and analysis of the available biographical information about Antonio Solario, also known as Lo Zingaro or “The Gypsy” – a representative of Italian fine art; comprehending the problems of interpreting the artist’s creative works and defining his place in the artistic environment of the Italian Renaissance. For this purpose, historical-cultural and chronological research methods were used, as well as systematisation, art history analysis and figurative-stylistic analysis. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that for the first time, data from scientists of different centuries about the life and work of the Italian artist Antonio Solario has been introduced into the Ukrainian scientific realm, and for the first time an attempt has been made at a comprehensive attribution of four works by the artist. The conclusions made were that the article systemises, specifies and analyses the data on the main stages of the artist's biography, taking into account that there still exist discrepancies in the information about his origin and places he stayed. Within the framework, the fact of the existence of a large number of contradictory data about him as an outstanding representative of the Italian Renaissance has been established and these contradictions have been characterised according to the chronological principle. It is noted that the artist has Venetian origins and at different periods of his life worked in Naples, the Italian region of Marche and on the territory of present-day Great Britain. Several hypotheses about the origin of the nickname “Lo Zingaro” are considered separately. The main stages in the evolution of the artist's creative manner are described – from early Venetian influences to the formation of a mature Neapolitan style that organically combined the achievements of Renaissance masters. It was found that his development was influenced by the creative style of such Italian Renaissance artists as Perugino, Pinturicchio and others. It is summarised that the figure of Antonio Solario personifies the multidimensional processes in the art of the Italian Renaissance and provides a number of areas for further research.