Giuseppe Sciuti is still considered the “best Sicilian fresco painter” of the 19th century. He owes this fame and his entire career to Mount Etna, the volcano on which he was born and where he lived until the age of 20. His story is one of many that demonstrate how Etna, for better or worse, shapes the lives of those who inhabit its slopes. And it cannot be separated from the fate of its people. In Sciuti’s case, “fortune amid misfortune” began in 1852.

Life of a “neighbourhood painter”

Giuseppe Sciuti was born in Zafferana Etnea in 1834. His father was the local pharmacist, while his mother was a noble lady from Acireale. His parents owned large vineyards just a few km out of the town, which provided a large portion of the family income.
The young Giuseppe was excellent at drawing, and his father allowed him to take lessons from a local decorator. Given the boy’s brilliance, his teacher suggested he move to Rome or Florence to attend important academies, but his family wanted him to go into business to supplement the income from their land. In any case, they couldn’t afford a long stay in the north and was therefore determined Giuseppe would either remain a “neighbourhood painter” or become a businessman with a passion for painting.

The 1852 Eruption

On the night of August 20, 1852, without any warning, several fractures opened on Mount Etna’s Bove Valley, near Serra Gianicola. The lava flowed fluidly and began a relentless, rapid descent toward the towns. Arriving just above Milo, the river of fire split into three branches, one of which flowed into a narrow gorge, accelerating its progress toward Zafferana Etnea.

At dawn on the 23rd, two branches were virtually stationary, while the third found its way to the town, heading toward Contrada Ballo. Along the way, the lava set fire to forests and fields, while the ash emissions burned all the crops. The eruption ended only in May of the following year, alternating periods of intense activity with periods of calm. In fact, the towns of Milo and Zafferana were partially destroyed by the flows, and many land properties were buried.

Among the lands forever erased by the lava were the Sciuti family’s vineyards.

The eruption that changed lives

Thanks to the father’s work as a pharmacist and the mother’s incomes, Giuseppe Sciuti’s family did not fall into total poverty. But with the vineyards tuned into ashes they completely lost a significant income, and the possibility of supporting their son’s studies vanished forever. However, the opportunity to become an agricultural businessman also vanished, so Giuseppe found a job at Giuseppe Spina’s art studio in Acireale.

Initially a simple decorator and assistant to the master, his innate talent quickly led to him being entrusted with important works in churches and palaces in Acireale and Catania.

Due to his achievements in the great city, the Municipality of Catania decided to provide him with a scholarship to graduate from the art academy, and the young artist went to Rome. Thus he had the opportunity to study and work also in cities such as Florence, Naples, Sassari, in Lugano, Switzerland, and even in London.

The Return and Fame

Giuseppe Sciuti, now a master of painting and professor at the academy, returned to Sicily in 1896. He was over sixty years old and was commissioned to carry out highly prestigious works in Catania (Collegiate Basilica), Acireale (Cathedral, Palazzo Calanna, Palazzo Baroni Floristella), and his hometown Zafferana. The distinctive feature of Sciuti’s painting is his impressive realism and his ability to paint large paintings—covering facades, vaults, and walls—despite him being a short man!

Among his most important works: The Eruption of 1852, The Madonna of the Children, Welfare and the Arts, Roger I Exiting the Royal Palace, The Triumph of the Cataneses Over the Libyans, plus numerous religious frescoes, mythological and allegorical frescoes, and paintings and portraits of ordinary people. His art was so interesting and moving that, during a 1888 exhibition in London, a wealthy British army colonel decided to buy all his works.

Although he returned to Sicily frequently and stayed in Zafferana and Acireale for several years, his home and family were now in Rome. In 1857, he had married Antonietta Anna Torrisi, with whom he had had two children: Eugenio, born in 1860, and daughter Caterina, born in 1862 – who would also become a painter. Sciuti died in Rome in 1911, greeted with expressions of esteem and honors by many colleagues and prominent figures of the time.

The painting is: G. Sciuti, Eruption of Etna in 1852, oil on canvas, 1852-54, Catania, Museo Interdisciplinare Regionale.jpg