MILANESI A PARIGI. LA FORTUNA CRITICA FRANCESE DEGLI ARTISTI DI FORMAZIONE LOMBARDA ALLE ESPOSIZIONI DI PARIGI NELLA SECONDA METÀ DELL'OTTOCENTO.

Milanese people in Paris. The French critical reception of the artists that studied in Lombardy on the exhibitions in Paris during the second half of the 19th Century. The topic of the dissertation is the critical reception of the Lombard art in the second half of the 19th Century in Paris, between printed and archival sources from these years, based on the Parisian universal exhibitions and the annual Salon. As the universal exhibitions are a mirror of the society, important changes in art and politics that characterized the period, both in Italy and in France, are clearly reflected by them. From the 1855 Universal Exhibition, when Lombardy was under the Austrian domination, over the 1867 and 1878 ones that followed the progressive unification of Italy; finally the 1889 Universal Exhibition shows a radical change for the art market and for the artists. Through the critical reception of artists (such as Etienne-Jean Delécluze or Olivier Merson) and anonym or well-known critics (such as Théophile Gautier, Paul Mantz, Charles Blanc), we can understand the contemporary idea of "Italian modern art" and the regional identity of the Lombard school.