A visit to the municipal art gallery of Vasto is an excellent opportunity to admire beautiful examples of mid-19th-century Verismo painting, and above all, to relive the city’s cultural history through the works of its most prominent artists.
Vasto has produced several talented painters, many of whom worked primarily in the Neapolitan art scene, both before and after the unification of Italy. The most notable among them are the four Palizzi brothers, whose donations formed the first collection of the art gallery in 1898.
The current exhibition of the municipal art gallery, reopened in 1999 within the newly renovated halls of Palazzo d’Avalos, includes seventeen works by Filippo Palizzi, the most famous of the brothers, as well as eight works by Giuseppe, Francesco Paolo, and Nicola Palizzi.
Among Filippo Palizzi’s major paintings on display at the Municipal art gallery are The Two Shepherds, Holland, and the 1860 Self-Portrait, alongside many animal portraits, including the famous Muletto, which earned him the nickname “Painter of Animals.”
Historically significant is the Ecce Agnus Dei altarpiece from 1889, originally placed in the Church of San Pietro, as well as The Blind Man of Jericho by Francesco Paolo Palizzi. Both paintings were added to the gallery’s collection after the church was demolished due to damage from the massive landslide of 1956.
In addition to the Palizzi brothers’ works, those of Gabriele Smargiassi are also of interest. A painter from Vasto, Smargiassi became a master of landscape painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, where he taught the Palizzi brothers. He is regarded as one of the leading figures of the Posillipo School and Neapolitan vedutismo.
One of historical significance is View of Vasto from 1831, as it depicts the southern front of the city when parts of the Caldora walls were still visible. This painting was also a gift from the artist to Gabriele Rossetti during a visit to him in London in exile in 1838. It was later presented to the city of Vasto by Rossetti’s son, William Michael Rossetti, in 1883, to mark the centenary of the father’s birth.
The journey through 19th-century Vasto’s painting concludes with Study of Sheep by Valerico Laccetti, a student and follower of Filippo Palizzi. Through his works, Laccetti completes the arc of the Neapolitan impressionist painting tradition.
