SEGANTINI, GIOVANNI (1858-1899), Italian painter, was born at Arco in the Trentino on June 15, 1858. His mother, who belonged to an old family of the mountain country, died in 1863. His father then went to Milan, and there left Giovanni in the care of a step-sister. At the age of seven the child ran away; he was found perishing of cold and hunger, and was employed by peasants as a herdsman. He spent his long hours of solitude in drawing. Owing to his fame having reached the ears of a syndic, he was sent back to Milan; he led a wandering life, and finally remained at Milan to attend classes at the Brera, earning a living meanwhile. In 1882 he settled in Brianza, near Como and four years later sought the Swiss Alps, finally settling in the Engadine. There he gave himself up to the study of mountain life, and be came in truth the painter of the Alps. The "Ave Maria" took a gold medal at the Amsterdam Exhibition (1883). Like Millet he depicted the hard life of the peasant. The atmosphere of his pic
ture is clear and crystalline and his figures stand out in clear relief. "The Drinking-place" received a gold medal in Paris (1889), "Ploughing in the Engadine" (Munich Pinakotek) gained a gold medal at Turin (1892). Besides those works in which he studied simple effects of light and Alpine scenery, such as "Midday on the Alps" and "Winter at Savognino," he also painted symbolical subjects : "The Punishment of Luxury" and the "Unnatural Mothers" (in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). Segantini died on Sept. 28, 1899, at Maloja, where a museum contains many of his works, including the great unfinished triptych of "The Alpine World." See L. Villari, G. Segantini (London, 1901) ; F. Servaes, G. Segantini (Leipzig, 1907) ; G. Segantini, G. Segantini (Munich, 1918) ; G. Segan tini, Scritti e Lettere (Turin 191o).