He was born in
Foggia, but moved to Naples in 1840, initially with the aim to study medicine. He was enrolled in the school of the
Scolopi priests. But his interests led him to attend the
Accademia di Belle Arti alongside
Domenico Morelli. he also befriended
Michele De Napoli. But like his friend, he became part of the protests during the insurrection of 1848. He fought in the barricades of Santa Brigida. He was briefly arrested, and condemned to death, and upon which he fled into exile in
L'Aquila, then by 1850 to Florence. There he entered into the circle of artists frequenting the
Caffè Michelangiolo, and the painters of the Tuscan school of the
Macchiaioli. Yet Francesco's paintings, unlike those of the
Macchiaioli, were focused on historic and political events. In 1855, with Morelli and
Serafino De Tivoli, he traveled to the World Exposition at Paris. In 1860, he returned to Naples, this time fighting alongside the forces of
Giuseppe Garibaldi. He then became active in politics as well as art. In 1861, he submitted the painting of the
Funeral of Buondelmonte to the "Prima esposizione nazionale" held in Florence. In 1865, he frescoed the chapel of the
Palazzo Reale of Naples. In 1892, he painted five altarpieces and four canvases for the restored parish church of
Castrignano de' Greci in the province of
Lecce. His first wife,
Elena Bùkuras, was a Greek painter, with whom he had three children, a daughter, Sofia, and two sons who became painters
Ioannis and Alessandro. But he then had two further companions, the Greek painter
Eleni Sionti, and finally the painter
Jane Benham Hay, with whom he had a son, painter
Bernardo Hay. Among the pupils of Altamura was
Vincenzo Acquaviva. Francesco died in Naples. In 1901, a monument in his honor was erected in Foggia. ==References==