Francesco Raffaello Santoro

Francesco Raffaello Santoro (Cosenza, 1844 - Rome, 1927) was an Italian painter, mainly of landscapes and genre themes, both in oil and watercolor.

He was born in Cosenza in Calabria, to a family of artists, his cousin was Rubens Santoro. His first training was with his father who had founded in Fuscaldo a studio called Lithography Calabra which mainly made copies of sacred works and portraits. By 1865, Francesco had moved to Naples at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts. He obtained a stipend from the Provincial Council of Cosenza to Study in Florence, and during 1864-1865 he travelled instead to England. In 1868, he obtains a stipend from the Academy in Naples to study in Rome.

In 1885, he traveled again to Britain, and married a Scottish woman, returning to Rome to open a studio. He joins the Società degli Acquerellisti, created in 1875 by Ettore Roesler Franz, Nazareno Cipriani, Cesare Maccari, Vincenzo Cabianca, Pio Joris and other artists.

He lived much of his life in Rome. In Turin, in 1890, he displayed: Il Medico dell'anima and Momento d' ozio. In Milan, in 1881, exhibits: Dopo il lavoro; Ricordo d'Amalfi; and Prima tappa. At the 1883 Exposition of Fine Arts in Rome, he displayed Pascariello e compagnia bella. At the same exposition a few years later, he displayed Il pane quotidiano and Non so ochiù bonu!. At the 1887 Venetian Mostra Artistica of Fine Arts, he displayed: Dolce far niente. Finally, in 1888 in Bologna: Ricordo delle montagne di Carrara.