PISTRUCCI

Both Filippo Pistrucci and his brother Benedetto, born in Rome, had precocious talent. They studied at the Museum on the Capitol, excelling in drawing and wax modelling respectively. (Benedetto came to London to work in 1815 and later modelled the famous St George and the Dragon, still used on gold coins).Filippo stayed in Italy and at Milan in 1819 and 1821 re-published Cornelius Ripa's Iconologia, a famous source book for artists and poets, in two magnificent volumes with coloured illustrations. He was also a political activist, plotting to free Lombardy from the Austrians, and had to flee, joining his brother in London in 1822. An English version of Ripa was not so successful, but Filippo continued making fine paintings and etchings.In Milan Filippo had bought a Bible for its illustrations. Now in London he read it closely, and turned to Evangelical Protestantism, like others of the Risorgimento such as Mazzini, exiled in 1837 also in London. They became close friends - Mazzini spent his first Christmas Day in England with Filippo. From 1841 to 1848 Filippo was headmaster of Mazzini's Italian Free School, and his painter son Scipione campaigned with Mazzini during the revolutions in Italy of 1848, acting for a while as his secretary. Another close friend was the poet Gabriele Rossetti, whose family he painted.Paganini visited London between 1831 and 1834.