Sul soggiorno del pittore Antonio Mancini in Irlanda nell’autunno del 1907

Abstract

This essay focuses on the portraits painted by Antonio Mancini (Rome, 1852-1930) during his stay in Dublin, in autumn 1907. Mancini, who belonged to the Italian Verismo movement, painted several self-portraits as well as portraits of well known Irish figures including Ruth Shine (Hugh Lane’s sister), Lady Augusta Gregory and William Butler Yeats. For the Irish intellectuals he met in Dublin Mancini became a symbol of individuality, humility and sincerity. As a result, Mancini’s imagination may be interpreted in relation with that of Martin, the young protagonist of Yeats and Lady Gregory’s play The Unicorn from the Stars (1907). This study concludes with an interpretation of Mancini’s painting entitled The Maker of Figures donated by John Singer Sargent to the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane in the early 1900s.