He painted diverse subjects from period pieces, Oriental fantasies, altarpieces, portraits, and genre works, and worked both in fresco and oil.

In 1874, Attanasio won a stipend from his native Catania to study in Naples at the Institute of Fine Arts under Domenico Morelli, and then moved to Rome.

Le pazze, depicting women at an insane asylum, won the gold medal at the 1891 Exposition of Palermo.

Among his other works Bernardo Palissy and the Orfano dell'Annunciata.

[1] This article about an Italian painter born in the 19th century is a stub.