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{{Short description|1820s Italian cultural movement}}
'''''Purismo''''' was an Italian [[cultural movement]] which began in the 1820s. The group intended to restore and preserve language through the study of medieval authors, and such study extended to the [[visual arts]].

Inspired by the [[Nazarene movement|Nazarenes]] from Germany, the artists of Purismo reject [[Neoclassicism]] and emulated the works of [[Raphael]], [[Giotto di Bondone|Giotto]] and [[Fra Angelico]]. The movement flourished through 1860, and reflected the taste for revivalist styles, which in Italy was fed by growing interest in Italian national identity and artistic heritage.

== History ==
[[File:Gustav Jaeger Bileam Engel.jpg|thumb|right|''Balaam e l<nowiki>'</nowiki>angelo'' (Gustav Jaeger, 1836)]]
The term "Purismo" was coined in 1838 to describe the paintings of {{ill|Antonio Bianchini|it}} that referred to the "primitive" Italian artists, from [[Cimabue]] to the early [[Raphael]]. This nostalgia paralleled changes in literary taste, which was looking back to Tuscan 14th-century poetry and literature. In that way, Purismo was similar to the [[Pre-Raphaelite]] movement in Great Britain.

The group's ideals were declared in their manifesto ''Del purismo nelle arti'', which was written in 1842–43 by Antonio Bianchini and co-signed by major proponent of Purismo [[Tommaso Minardi]], Nazarene co-founder [[Johann Friedrich Overbeck|Friedrich Overbeck]], and sculptor [[Pietro Tenerani]].

Another important support of Purismo was [[Luigi Mussini]], called from Paris as the director of the Regio Istituto Senese di Belle Arti. In 1841, he combined references to the Umbrian paintings of the 15th century with influences from the Nazarenes and [[Ingres]] in his painting ''La Musica Sacra'' (stored in Florence's [[Palazzo Pitti#Gallery of Modern Art|Gallery of Modern Art]]). Tommaso Minardi's pupils Antonio Ciseri and Costantino Brumidi and Mussini's pupils [[Alessandro Franchi (painter)|Alessandro Franchi]], [[Amos Cassioli]] and [[Cesare Maccari]] are all linked to the movement, as well as [[Bartolomeo Pinelli]], Giambattistia Gigola, and [[Giovanni De Min (painter)|Giovanni De Min]].

Maurizio Dufou was the main Purismo proponent in Liguria; he was joined by artists such as [[:it:Luigia Mussini Piaggio|Luigia Mussini Piaggio]]. In Genoa, the largest realization of the movement's style is the [[Basilica di Santa Maria Immacolata]].

With the first national Italian exhibition in 1861, which took place in Florence, the fortunes of Purismo began to decline and be replaced by the styles of [[Verismo]] and the [[Macchiaioli]].

==References==
* [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/10/eus/ht10eus.htm The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

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[[Category:Italian art movements]]
[[Category:Romantic art movements]]