The Academy and the Studio
A comfortable childhood in Turin follows the move of his family in 1832. The son of a wealthy doctor, Bartolomeo Giuliano enters the Accademia Albertina to study drawing under Giovanni Battista Biscarra and painting with Carlo Arienti. By 1845, he is working within the studios of Giovanni Battista Arnaud. His early career finds him presenting works at the Society for Promotion of the Fine Arts.
The years between Sardinia and Tuscany lead back to Turin in 1857. He takes up a position as an assistant professor of figure drawing under Enrico Gamba. This academic life shifts again after 1860. He moves to Milan, teaching at the Scuola Militare Teulié and later at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, assisting Raffaele Casnedi. During this period, he marries Federica Gervasoni, an artist from Genoa.
Light and Movement
The brushwork begins to change. Influenced by the Scapigliatura movement and the French painter Jules Breton, his style moves from a romantic foundation toward something more solid and built, yet it retains a delicate sense of elegiac poetry. He explores religious subjects, landscapes, and genre scenes. In 1866, he applies his skill to the lunettes of the dome at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, creating allegorical frescoes titled Asia and Industry. These works eventually give way to mosaics.
His focus shifts toward the sea. Living in the Quarto dei Mille on the Ligurian Riviera, he captures the coast in brilliant hues. His subjects include:
- Portraits and genre scenes
- The waves and coastal views of Liguria
- Historical and literary themes such as Jacopo Foscari in prison and Parisina
- Works on paper and landscapes
Exhibitions and Legacy
The artist moves through the major exhibition halls of Europe. He participates in the Esposizione Nazionale Italiana in Florence in 1861 and presents scenes from the Ligurian coast at the Exposition Universelle of 1878 in Paris. His presence is felt in Venice during the Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte in 1895 and 1897, and later at the Esposizione Nazionale in Milan in 1906.
After leaving his teaching posts, he devotes himself entirely to production. His late works include Bathers in front of the rocky coast from 1909. He dies in Milan at the age of eighty-three. Bronze sculptures created by Giulio Branca in his honor remain visible at the Accademia Brera and the Cimitero Monumentale.
