Biography

BERTOLLA Cesare, painter (Lucca 1845 – Rome 1920). Son of Giuseppe and Eufemia Paolini he graduated in law in Pisa in 1868 and the following year he entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he reached the rank of section head. Painting, learned by self-taught, and hunting are his two great passions to which he dedicates all his free time.

He made his debut at Amatori e Cultori in 1875 and shortly thereafter became a member of the International Artistic Association. He delights in portraying with great sensitivity the most melancholic and wild aspects of the Roman countryside and especially of the marshes, which runs far and wide in the company of the same age Calandi long before the establishment of the “Group”, having Terracina as a base. You can therefore rightly be considered one of the fathers of the association, as shown by the photos of Oreste Sgambati who portray him among the assiduous visitors of the Omnibus room at the Greek Coffee.

From his landscapes, pervaded by a subtle melancholy, his solitary and romantic disposition shines through. Although one of the ten founders of the XXV Group present at the famous dinner at the restaurant “Il pozzo di S. Patrizio”, we do not know the nickname with which it was baptized.

He has his studio in via Nazionale and, starting from 1875, participates in almost all editions of the annual reviews of Amateurs and Cultures until 1913. His paintings are also exhibited, two years after his death, at the first major review of the XXV of the Roman countryside of 1922.