Mario Prayer: The Overlooked Early 20th-Century Italian Painter
Mario Prayer (Turin, 1887 – Rome, 1959) was an Italian artist who relocated to Apulia, where he produced notable works for churches and public spaces. The son of photographer Roberto Prayer Galletti and noblewoman Giovanna Boccaccini, he pursued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and Lyon. In 1915, the family settled in Bari, where he and his sibling Guido undertook public projects, such as frescoes for the Toritto council chamber (1921) and the University of Bari (1924). Despite suffering paralysis in 1935, he persisted in his artistic endeavors. In the 1940s, he decorated churches in Rome, depicting figures of bombing victims. His work "L'Allegoria della Provincia di Brindisi" was completed in 1949. Semerari highlights his exceptional drawing talent and calls for greater acknowledgment of his contributions.
Key facts
- Mario Prayer was born in Turin in 1887 and died in Rome in 1959.
- He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice and the Academy of Lyon.
- He moved to Bari in 1915 with his family.
- He frescoed the Aula Magna of the University of Bari in 1924 using encaustic technique.
- He decorated the Cathedral of Cassano allo Jonio from 1934 to 1936.
- He suffered paralysis in his right arm in 1935, possibly from lead poisoning.
- He incorporated photos of WWII bombing victims in a Rome church fresco.
- His style blends Symbolism and Liberty with revisited classicism.
Entities
Artists
- Mario Prayer
- Guido Prayer
- Roberto Prayer Galletti
- Giovanna Boccaccini
- Livia Semerari
- Bruno Occhiuto
- Antonio Perrino
- Ludovico Pratesi
Institutions
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia
- Accademia di Lione
- Università di Bari
- Cattedrale di Cassano allo Jonio
- Casa del Fascio a Taranto
- Palazzo della Provincia di Brindisi
- Barinedita
- Artribune
Locations
- Turin
- Italy
- Venice
- Lyon
- France
- Bari
- Apulia
- Toritto
- Cassano allo Jonio
- Cosenza
- Taranto
- Rome
- San Lorenzo
- Brindisi