Luigi Deleidi

His mother was the daughter of Pietro Antonio Gualdi Lodrini, a well-known local painter of religious works, and his brother Marco (1780-1843) also became a painter, although none of his works have been positively identified.

[1] After displaying an ability to draw at an early age, Luigi was sent to the "Scuola di Pittura e Scenografia" in Milan, where he studied with Alessandro Sanquirico.

He decided to specialize in landscapes and was nicknamed "The Fog" because his paintings all had a slightly hazy color, and many were set in the winter.

[2] He was a talented musician as well, and often played the bassoon with local orchestras or, occasionally, as a soloist.

In fact, he was a friend of Donizetti and an associate of other Bergamese artists, including Giuseppe Diotti, Francesco Coghetti and Paolo Vincenzo Bonomini.

Self-portrait, detail from Donizetti and friends , 1840
Piazza Vecchia , the old square of Bergamo, now in the Accademia Carrara
Donizetti and friends , 1840, now in the Museo Donizettiano in Bergamo. From left: Luigi Bettinelli [ it ] , Gaetano Donizetti , Antonio Dolci [ ru ] , Simon Mayr and Luigi Deleidi