Costantino Barbella

Biography

Costantino Barbella, a native of Chieti, met Francesco Paolo Michetti in the early 1870s, establishing a deep friendship with him and above all a fruitful artistic exchange. Michetti, noticing Barbella’s talent for modelling clay, urged him to enter the competition for a pension in 1872.

The group with Deposition from the Cross won him the pensioner’s pension, thanks to which he could finally move to Naples to complete his training. He studied under Stanislao Lista, a sculptor who immediately introduced him to Neapolitan verism.

The themes he chose were those of everyday life in Abruzzo, enclosed in small groups mainly in bronze and terracotta. In 1873, he made his debut at the Neapolitan Promotrice with Rosina la contadinella abruzzese, immediately showing his propensity for choosing subjects related to Abruzzese folklore, modelled on life with fluency and naturalism. It is precisely because of his predilection for these themes linked to his homeland that Costantino Barbella has been nicknamed ‘the Michetti of sculpture’.

His minute technique and a calligraphic attention to real popular customs made him famous in 1875, when he presented Gioia dell’innocenza dopo il lavoro in Naples. From then on, exhibitions followed one after the other, both in Italy and abroad: in 1877 he presented Canzone d’Amore at the National Exhibition in Naples.

The work, a true description of a popular Abruzzese costume, an example of a simple and rustic life, was appreciated by Gabriele D’Annunzio, with whom Barbella became close for a long time. Two years later he won a medal at the Paris Salon for La confidenza, while at the 1880 Turin National Exhibition he sent La paciera, Segreto! and Due amiche.

At the Milan Exhibition of 1881 he presented Nessun ci vede, Idillio, L’innamorato, I pastorelli, La comare, at the Rome Exhibition of 1883 Armonia, Pastorelli, Idillio, Soli, Credi a me and Su su. Extremely realistic and meticulously crafted groups describing the life of Abruzzo peasants, in anecdotal and pleasant sketches.

After being appointed honorary professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, he returned to his native Chieti, where he continued to devote himself relentlessly to sculpture, sharing a strong friendship with Michetti and D’Annunzio. At the Naples Exhibition of 1892, he sent Bum! and The Bride, later also shown in Palermo together with Onomastico, Partenza and eight other works. At the 1896 Art and Flower Festival in Florence, he exhibited five works entirely dedicated to the activities of Abruzzo women, including Al mercato and Donna di Scanno.

Not to be forgotten are the powerful portraits presented at the 1899 Biennale: Bust of Master Mascagni and Bust of Master Braga. Intimità, Pensierosa, Eroica, Tristezza and Montagnola appeared at exhibitions in the 1910s, but shortly afterwards he suffered from blindness. He continued to exhibit, but from 1915 onwards with much less frequency. He died in 1925 in Rome.

Elena Lago