Autoritratto - Attilio Simonetti

He was born and resided mainly in Rome: a son of Francesco, a Roman jeweler and engraver, and Carolina née Raffaeli, from a family of mosaicists. He showed a talent for art at an early age, which brought him to the attention of a family friend, the painter Marià Fortuny. At the age of sixteen, he began his formal studies. In 1868, Simoneti submitted two paintings to an exhibition at the Brera of Milan: Interior of Kitchen at Trastevere and Gate at via dei Carbonari. At the 1877 Neapolitan Esposizione Nazionale di Belle Arti, he displayed a copy of the paintings "L'araldo" and "Il tamburino", which were purchased by the soon-to-be King, Umberto I. While in Naples, he made friends with and was encouraged by Filippo Palizzi, who invited him to exhibit in Campania.