Valerio Villareale a Napoli e la Repubblica del 1799

Abstract

Valerio Villareale (Palermo, 1773-1854), the main neoclassic sculptor in Sicily, spent his young years between Naples and Rome. The paper highlights his training in Naples, where he met Filippo Tagliolini, and in Rome, where he knew Antonio Canova. Based on unpublished documents, the paper explores his participation in the Neapolitan Republic of 1799 and his activity during the reign of Gioacchino and Carolina Murat, when he sculpted the portraits of the King and the Queen as well as several stucco decorations and sculptures in the royal palaces in Caserta and Naples. At the restoration of the Borboni the Villareale returned to Palermo where he continued his career not only as a sculptor, but also as a teacher and art restorer.