(Rome 1797/1808–1882 Florence)
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, signed, dated L. Rubio Geneve 1859, oil on canvas, 81.5 x 99.5 cm, unframed, (Rei)

The Italian painter Luigi Rubio devoted himself primarily to historical-mythological subjects, genre paintings and portraits. His paintings are associated with both Neoclassicism and Romanticism, and tie in with the so-called French ‘troubadour style’ - a term that refers to an idealised depiction of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance at the beginning of the 19th century.

After studying at the Accademia di San Luca, an association of artists founded in Rome in 1577, he moved to the Accademia di Belle Arti in Parma. In 1824, he won several prizes for his painting “The Samaritan”, including two gold medals and many years of financial support from the papal government under Pope Leo XII.
Rubio spent extended periods in Warsaw and Paris, where he received commissions from Russian churches, among others. In 1849, Pope Pius IX raised him to the rank of knight and in 1870 he was appointed professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. He had already been appointed to a professorship at the Academy in St. Petersburg in 1853. His self-portrait was included in the Painters’ Hall of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.