Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
(1810-1883), Italian tenorSitter in 16 portraits
Born in Cagliari, Sardinia to an aristocratic family, he studied at the Royal Military Academy. Whilst serving as a second-lieutenant to the King of Sardinia's Guards in Turin, he got into some debt, his father's refusal to help him financially, led to him being expelled from the army on 24 November 1836. He travelled to Paris where he was welcomed at the salons. He performed as an amateur tenor at the salon of Principessa Cristina Belgiojoso, supplicating his income by giving fencing and riding lessons. He debuted as 'Mario', freeing himself of the burden of his inherited nobility. Becoming the most celebrated tenor of his era, he was idolised by audiences in London and Paris. He was the partner of the opera singer Giulia Grisi
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario) as Fernand in 'La Favorita'
by Caldesi, Blanford & Co
albumen carte-de-visite, early 1860s
NPG x20486
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by Horatio Nelson King
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s
NPG Ax39827
by Nelson & Marshall, published by Richard Burton & Co
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860
NPG x20491
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by Disdéri
albumen carte-de-visite, 1863 or before
NPG Ax25055
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by Disdéri
albumen carte-de-visite, 1863 or before
NPG Ax25060
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by Disdéri
albumen carte-de-visite, 1863 or before
NPG Ax25061
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by Disdéri
albumen carte-de-visite, 1863 or before
NPG Ax25062
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by Disdéri
albumen carte-de-visite, 1863 or before
NPG Ax17877
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by Disdéri
albumen carte-de-visite, 1863 or before
NPG x20485
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by Charles Bergamasco
albumen carte-de-visite, mid 1860s-mid 1870s
NPG x20488
'Upwards of five hundred photographic portraits of the most celebrated personages of the age'
by Frederick Holland Mares, after Disdéri, and Camille Silvy, and Duroni & Murer, and Émile Desmaisons, and John Jabez Edwin Mayall, and Herbert Watkins, and William Edward Kilburn, and Horatio Nelson King, and John & Charles Watkins, and James Mudd, and Unknown photographers, published by Ashford Brothers & Co
albumen carte-de-visite, 1863
On display in Room 22 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG x139661
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario) as Faust in 'Faust'
by Leonida Caldesi
albumen carte-de-visite, 1864
NPG x20489
Unknown actress; Jean Baptiste Faure; Adelina Patti; Giovanni Matteo Mario
by Leonida Caldesi
albumen carte-de-visite, 1864
NPG x20490
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by W. & D. Downey
albumen carte-de-visite, 1874 or before
NPG Ax28522
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario) as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia
by Unknown artist
chromolithograph, 1839 or after
NPG D42716
Giovanni Matteo de Candia (Mario)
by George Zobel, printed by Thomas Brooker, published by John Mitchell, after Leonida Caldesi
mezzotint, published 21 May 1855
NPG D38223
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