Arturo Zanieri, "francesco Siacci," Oil On Panel, Signed, 1911

Arturo Zanieri, "Francesco Siacci," oil on panel, signed, 1911

Francesco Siacci

Alexandria, 1911

Oil on panel, signed and dated lower left “A. Zanieri Alex. 1911”.

Dimensions: Framed H 55 x W 45 / H 28.5 x W 19.5

Refined official portrait of the mathematician, military officer, and senator of the Kingdom of Italy, Francesco Siacci, depicted in full dress uniform decorated with orders and honors.

The work was executed in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1911, during the period of Arturo Zanieri’s full artistic maturity. Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence under the guidance of Stefano Ussi, Zanieri assimilated his master’s Orientalist style, moving permanently to Egypt in 1903. There he received prestigious official commissions, including the portrait of Khedive Abbas Hilmi and the directorship of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cairo.

The painting depicts Francesco Siacci, a leading figure in Italian scientific and military culture between the 19th and 20th centuries. Aged 80, he received an honorary degree in mathematics from La Sapienza University in Rome, participated in the Third War of Independence, and became one of Europe’s leading scholars of ballistics, founding the modern Italian school of ballistics. A deputy and later a senator of the Kingdom, he also supported the establishment of the Polytechnic University of Turin.