Claudio Linati

Claudio Linati
Born	1790 Carbonera, Duchy of Parma
Died	11 December 1832 Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Nationality	Italian
Occupation(s)	Painter, lithographer

Claudio Linati (1790 – 11 December 1832) was an Italian painter and lithographer who studied under Jacques-Louis David in Paris and established the first lithographic press in Mexico. He is known for his hand-colored book illustrating costumes of different types of people in Mexico. Linati was also a political activist, involved in revolutionary causes in Italy and Spain.

Early years

Marcos Claudio Marcelo Antonio Pompeyo Blas Juan Linati de Prevos was born into a noble family in Carbonera, Duchy of Parma, in 1790, just after the start of the French Revolution. His father, count Filippo Linati, was active in the politics of his time. At the age of seventeen Claudio Linati joined the Parma Society of Printers and Watercolorists. He studied lithography, a recently invented technique for printing images. In 1809 he went to Paris, where he studied painting in the studio of Jacques-Louis David. Linati also studied in the Paris studio of fellow-Italian Gioacchino Giuseppe Serangeli.

During the First French Empire Linati served with the French army in Silesia and Poland. He was imprisoned in Hungary. After the fall of the empire Linati became a member of the Carbonari, who were fighting for Italian unification. He was politically active throughout his life, and was often persecuted for his activities, condemned to death or exile. In 1821 Linati was in Barcelona, leading the Migueletes militia. He came to own considerable property in Catalonia. In 1823 he was taken prisoner in La Seu d'Urgell and sent as a prisoner to Mont-Louis in France. In October 1823 he was in Avignon, and soon after was in Brussels.

Mexico

Maniere de voyager des Dames au Mexique (How Women Travel in Mexico; 1828)

Linati was commissioned to survey the coast of Mexico and find an anchorage for the ships and machines of mining companies. He arrived at Alvarado, Veracruz, Mexico on 6 March 1825. This was the year in which the last Spanish stronghold in San Juan de Ulúa surrendered. On 22 September 1825 Linati moved to Veracruz to study lithography. In 1826 he moved to Mexico City, where the government assisted him in opening a lithography workshop. He and Gaspar Franchini installed the first lithography machine to arrive in Mexico in February 1826. Franchini died while the machine was being installed.

Linati also set up a school, with pupils who included José Gracida and Ignacio Serrano. The small workshop included two presses and a collection of prints by French artists for use as examples by the students. Not long after arriving Minati made a lithograph of a map of Texas by Fiorenzo Galli. A copy of this map, the only one known to have survived, is held by the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.

Linati had come to Mexico to observe a newly-independent country and to "civilize" and politicize its people. He was one of the editors of the weekly El Iris (February–August 1826). His partners in this enterprise were Fiorenzo Galli and the Cuban poet José María Heredia. The newspaper provided diverse cultural content, portraits of Guadalupe Victoria, José María Morelos and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, heroes of the independence struggle, and editorial content that sparked controversy. Linati was sure there would be another attempt by Spain to conquer Mexico. The paper published the first Mexican political cartoon, La Tiranía (Tyranny), which was attributed to Linati. Only forty issues were printed. The political comments caused the closure of the paper and forced Linati to leave the country in 1826.

Later years

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1828)

Linati left Mexico in September 1826, and arrived in Brussels in March 1827. His book of Mexican civil, military and religious costumes, with text and illustrations, was published in Belgium in 1828 and in London in 1830. Later it was translated into Spanish and printed in Mexico. In 1830 Linati was one of the members of the Paris-based Giunta Liberatrice Italian. He was involved in the unsuccessful attempt at revolution in 1830–31.

Claudio Linati decided to return to Mexico. He arrived in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and three days later died from yellow fever on 11 December 1832. He is remembered for his liberal revolutionary ideals and his artistic and historical legacy. There is a plaque on 45 Borgo Felino St, Parma, Italy, that reads:

"Filippo and Claudio Linati owned and lived in this house. The first was indicted as Chief of the Provisional Insurrectional Government in 1831, and the second was sentenced to death for having conspired in 1821 to redeem Italy from domestic and foreign servitude.

Publications

Linati is renowned for his 1828 Civil, Military and Religious Costumes of Mexico (Template:Lang-fr, Template:Lang-es). This is the first inventory of types of Mexican people made by a foreigner. It is also one the first color plate books about Mexico to be printed, with forty-eight hand-colored lithographs. The book depicts the great variety of Mexican society of the time, setting a model that would be followed by later illustrators such as Carl Nebel. The book was translated into Spanish and published in Mexico in 1956, with a foreword by Manuel Toussaint.

It shows the wealth and dignity of landowners, and depicts various types of soldier with text that praises the heroes of the insurgent movement that had recently won Mexico her independence. He also depicted the liberal heroes José María Morelos and Guadalupe Victoria. He represented watercarriers, vagabonds and men and women of all stations of life. The illustrations include an Apache chief, and a portrait of General Vicente Filisola. In 1836 this general would be second in command to General Antonio López de Santa Anna on his expedition to Texas.

Other publications containing Linati's work include:

• Acuarelas y litografías, 1993
• Poesie politiche, 1811 – 1824 di Claudio Linati e Gabriele Rossetti ; [a cura di Alessandro Galante Garrone]
• Nozioni elementari di arte e storia militare : ad uso degli ufficiali di fanteria del conte C. Linati
• Claudio Linati : 1790–1832 : [Epistolario, le poesie politiche di C. L. e scritti di vari autori su C. L.

• 
  Vagabond
• 
  Landowner
• 
  Negro and his wife
• 
  Militia of Guazacualco

References

Citations

Sources

• Alegre Carvajal, Beatriz; Gil Novales, Alberto (2014). "Linati, Claudio". MCN Biografias. Retrieved 2014-06-15. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• "Artistas viajeros: Claudio Linati". Historias Mexicanas. Secretaria de Educacion Publica. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
• Castro, Jorge (26 July 2013). "Claudio Linati: Pionero de la Litografía en México". Retrieved 2014-06-15. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• "Ediciones Técnicas y Culturales". Grupo Cosmos. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
• Claudio Linati. Universidad de las Artes. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
• Finsemaneando (5 July 2009). "Claudio Linati en Mexico". Cuidadanos en Red. Retrieved 2014-06-15. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• "Giuseppe e la moglie di Putifarre". Atelier des Arts. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
• "LINATI, CLAUDIO". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
• "Linati, Claúdio, 1790–1832". VIAF. Retrieved 2014-06-15.