Mangaluru: Moscheni gallery to be inaugurated at Aloyseum

On the occasion of the inauguration of the new location of St Aloysius College museum (Aloyseum), a new gallery dedicated to Br Moscheni (who had painted SAC Chapel paintings) will be inaugurated at 9 am on February 13.

Alberto Pessani, who is a renowned painter from Milan and Antonio Lamera from Stezzano, the home town of Moscheni, who is the custodian of the paintings and sketches of the Moscheni will inaugurate the Gallery. SilvanaRizzi, the grandniece of Antonio Moscheni and Roberta Nepoti will be present.

The gallery will have the self-portrait of Antonio Moscheni, sketches done by him during his studies and pictures of the churches painted by him in India.

About Antonio Moscheni

Br Antonio Moscheni was born in a village called Stezzano near Bergamo in Italy on January 17, 1854.

His artistic talents were discovered early and he was sent to the famed Academia Carrara in Bergamo. He studied under able masters and soon acquired considerable proficiency in the art of painting.

He then went to Rome to study the masterpieces of the Vatican. Fresco painting became his passion. In 1889 Antonio renounced the prospects of a brilliant career and became religious in the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). But his religious superiors did not wish his talent to be buried.

They ordered him to paint several churches in his native place as also in Albania and Yugoslavia. They then sent him in 1898 to Mangaluru to paint the Chapel of St Aloysius College. It took him a little over two years to cover the walls and ceiling of the Chapel with frescos and oil paintings. Later he painted the church of St Joseph’s Seminary, the church of Most Holy Saviour, Agrar near Bantwal and the Holy Name Cathedral in Bombay.

On November 15, 1905, as he was painting a church, Santa Cruz Basilica in Kochi he fell sick and breathed his last. He was buried in the Christian cemetery in Kochi.

St Aloysius College chapel, however, is the only one which is fully covered by his paintings. The paintings are a treasure not only of the College but are a national treasure of India. The paintings have become world-renowned, drawing visitors in large numbers from all over the world, said Dr. Melwyn Pinto, media co-ordinator of St Aloysius College.