Giuseppe Renda, called "l'Aroddu" (born in Alcamo on 13 June 1772 and died in Palermo, on 20 October 1805), was an Italian painter.
He was born in a family of farmers and the third son of Antonino di Vito (detto "Arollo") and Francesca Serro di Giuseppe. He was baptizeded with the name Giuseppe Antonino.
His house was located at via Commendatore Leonardo Navarra, called "strada di li putieddi" (the street with small shops) because of the stands which were prepared in this street during the free fair of the Company of Saint James. When young he worked for the cathedral.
He started painting during his adolescence when one day, on a whim, he sketched the portrait of a chapelain on a wall with a charcoal. After he had seen it, Don Benedetto Mangione, the archpriest, sent him to the town authorities. Then he was taken under the patronage of the nobleman Pietro Lombardo and that allowed him to study art with the master Giuseppe Velazquez in Palermo. Some people assert that was the artist Giuseppe Patania.
When he ended his studies he went back to Alcamo, where he realized a lot of paintings with a religious background since 1790. His mother died in 1789 and his father married again with Vincenza Pirrello (1790).
In 1796, further to his father’s death, Giuseppe Renda moved to the house in via Rossotti where his sister Antonina lived.
In 1805 he died of tuberculosis in Palermo when he was only 33 and was buried in the crypt of the convent of the Capuchins.
Giuseppe Renda’s paintings, above all, deal with religious subjects. There are five certain works made by him (three of them provide the date and the author’s name) and 38 are assigned to him. 14 of his paintings have got lost.
Among his works hosted in Alcamo, there are:
Nine paintings on canvas inspired by Jesus and Mary’s lives, which until 1993 were kept in the two halls of Palazzo Mauriello (once Palazzo Mangione) in Alcamo and now hosted inside private collections in Alcamo and Mazara del Vallo. These works are:
Presentazione di Maria Santissima al Tempio (the Most Holy Mary’s presentation to the temple), oil painting kept at Mazara del Vallo
Natività di Gesù (Jesus’s nativity), oil painting kept at the bank Don Rizzo
Fuga in Egitto (the Escape to Egypt), oil painting kept at Mazara del Vallo
Samaritana al pozzo di Sichar (the Samaritan woman at the well of Sichar), oil painting kept inside the Town Hall of Alcamo
Apparizione al lago di Tiberiade (Apparition at the Tiberiade lake), oil painting kept at Mazara del Vallo
Battesimo di Gesù (Jesus’s baptism), oil painting kept at Mazara del Vallo
Noli me tangere, oil painting kept at Mazara del Vallo
Gesù Cristo e la vedova di Naim (Jesus Christ and the widow of Naim) oil painting kept at the Town hall of Alcamo
I pellegrini di Emmaus (Emmaus’ pilgrims) oil painting kept at Mazara del Vallo
Circoncisione del Gesù (Jesus’s Circumcision made in 1797), chiesa del Gesù (Church of Jesus)- inspired by an engraving of Ciro Ferri
Madonna del Rosario (1798), chiesa di Sant'Oliva
Addolorata (Our Lady of Sorrows,1798), chiesa di Sant'Oliva
Addolorata (1798), chiesa di Santa Maria di Gesù, restored by Guido Gregorietti in 1943 and stolen in 1979 In 1916 Leonardo Mirabile painted a copy of it, hosted inside the Church of Saint Anne under the name of Our Lady of Confusion.
Addolorata (assigned), an oval oil painting put below the crucifix of the "Preziosissimo Sangue (Very Precious Blood) " at chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi
Madonna del Lume (Our Lady of the Light) a rectangular altar-piece inside Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta
Sacra Famiglia (the Holy Family) kept in a private collection at Chiesa della Sacra Famiglia
Il Cuore di Maria e il Cuore di Gesù, oil painting kept at the church
Sacro Cuore di Gesù Bambino (the Holy Heart of the Infant Jesus), oil painting kept in a private collection
Madonna con Gesù e San Giovannino (assigned), oil painting kept in a private collection
Madonna del Riposo, the Madonnina (assigned), oil painting on slate kept in a private collection
Madonna della Catena, Our Lady with a Chain (assigned), oil painting put on the high altar of chiesa della Madonna della Catena. It was restored in 1947 by the painter Benedetto Violante
Madonna di Passavia (Our Lady of Passavia) oil painting on canvas kept in the nunnery of Saint Clara
Immacolata, Assunta e Assunzione di Maria in cielo (The Immaculate, Mary’s Assumption) small pictures kept in a private collection, not traceable any longer
Immacolata (assigned), a rectangular oil painting in a private collection
Immacolata (assigned), an oval oil painting in a private collection
Madonna dei Raggi (Our Lady with Rays) oil painting in a private collection
Christ the Redeemer, Museo d'arte sacra
Santissimo Salvatore, The Blessed Saviour (assigned), oil painting kept at Museo d'arte sacra
Santissima Trinità (the Holy Trinity) oil painting once kept in a private house, not traceable any longer
Adorazione dei pastori (the Sheperds’ adoration) stolen in 1993
Ritratto dell'arciprete Benedetto Mangione (the Portrait of the archpriest Benedetto Mangione,1793), oil painting kept at Museo d'arte sacra inside the church
San Giuda Taddeo, oil painting kept inside the church
Madonna della Provvidenza
Miracolo di San Vincenzo Ferreri (Saint Vincenzo Ferreri’s miracle, 1793), oil painting hosted at chiesa della Madonna del Rosario
Madonna dell'Alto, Our Lady of the Height (assigned), oil painting stolen in 2003.
Madonna dei Miracoli, stolen. It was placed in a votive aedicule
Madonna dei Miracoli (assigned), oil painting kept inside the nunnery of Badia Nuova
Madonna dei Miracoli, oil painting on a metall thin sheet kept inside the monastero dell'Angelo Custode
Madonna dei Miracoli, small picture on a metal thin sheet kept in a private collection
Madonna dei Miracoli, Our Lady of Miracles (assigned), an oval painting on an oval plate, enriched by a glod cornice with floreal motifs, kept inside chiesa dei Santi Paolo e Bartolomeo
Madonna con Bambino (Madonna with the Infant) painting once kept inside a private collection, not traceable any longer
Madonna con Bambino, painting once kept inside a private collection, stolen
San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph) oil painting on a oval copper support, hosted in a private collection
Gesù, Maria e Giuseppe (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) small picture of private property, not traceable any longer
San Francesco Giovanni Regis, once kept in a private collection, not traceable any longer
Ritratto di papa Pio VI (Portrait of the Pope Pio VI) oil painting at the church
Ritratto di don Antonino Mangione (a Portrait of Don Antonino Mangione’s wife, assigned), oil painting kept inside the Mangione foundation
Ritratto di Donna Francesca De Blasi (the Portrait of Donna Francesca De Blasi Don Antonino Mangione’s wife), oil painting kept in a private collection
Ritratto di Monsignore Ugo Papè di Valdina (Portrait of Monsignore Ugo Papè di Valdina) oil painting kept at the church
Ritratto del poeta Pietro Lombardo (Portrait of the poet Pietro Lombardo) not traceable any longer.
Renda’s works kept in Palermo are:
Madonna con il Bambino, named "Madonna Bella" (Beautiful Madonna,1788), for a votive aedicula in via Maqueda, stolen
Immacolata (assigned), kept inside Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi
Riposo in Egitto (Rest in Egypt, assigned), oil painting in a private collection
Cuore immacolato di Maria e Gesù (the Immaculate heart of Mary and Jeseus, assigned), oil painting in a private collection.
In Trapani you can see the Ritratto del Generale Giovan Battista Fardella (Portrait of the general G.B. Fardella) kept at Museo Regionale Pepoli.
At Erice, in the museum of the Church, there is an oil painting on a wooden panel assigned to him, representing Saint Isidore Agricola.
In the new Church of Castelbuono there is an oil painting of Saint Joseph moribund.
An oil painting on copper representing the Immaculate, assigned to Renda, is kept in a private collection in Rome. In a private collection in Rome there is also an oil painting on copper representing the Redeemer.
Two more pictures are in the arcade of the main façade of Villa Belmonte all'Acquasanta near Mount Pellegrino.
