Painter

Born in Valletta, son of Count Gio Francesco Preziosi and Margherita née Reynaud-Carcas, Amadeo’s family, originally pirates, settled in Malta towards the end of the 17th century and were ennobled by King Amadeo of Sicily in 1718. Amadeo, fifth count Preziosi, was sent to study law, but was more interested in art and began his art studies under Giuseppe Hyzler, follower of the Nazarene School.

In his early twenties he went to Paris where he probably absorbed some of the prevailing artistic tastes of the time while attending the Ecole des Beaux Arts. After a brief return trip to Malta, in June 1841 Preziosi sailed for an exploratory trip to Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire, and returned a year later.

In September 1842 he departed again for Constantinople, where he set up a studio in the Pera district. He married and had three daughters and a son. His studio became a celebrated site for travellers and among other visitors were Edward VII, the Prince of Wales and King Carol of Rumania.

Preziosi is regarded as one of the most celebrated water colour painters of the 19th century. His name, though hardly mentioned in the local art history, was widely spread in the East. Victor Champier, a contemprary art critic, states that, of the painters of the Bosphorus, Preziosi was ‘the only one who gave life to the secrets of colour in the skyline of Istambul’.

In Paris, Preziosi was already hailed as ‘a great Italian painter’ of French descent, while on the Bosphorus itself the Turks regarded him as their ‘own’. A Thalasso, an art critic, in his book: L’Art Ottoman: Le Paintres de Turque, published in Paris in 1912 included him in the list of Turkish painters.

Preziosi’s fame was achieved mainly through the publication of two portfolios: Stamboul: Souvenirs d’Orient (1859), and Souvenirs de Cairo (1862). One illustrates varied aspects of the city’s life, while the other illustrates slave merchants, beggars and hashish dealers.

In September 1882, Preziosi accidentally shot himself and was buried in the cemetry of San Stefano at Tosilbey, Turkey.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.