Born in
Alcamo into a family of farmers and third son of Antonio di Vito (called "Arollo") and Francesca Lo Serro di Giuseppe, he was baptized with the name Giuseppe Antonino. The family lived in via Commendatore Leonardo Navarra, called "strada di li putieddi" (the street with small shops) because of the stands which were erected in this street during the free fair of the Company of Saint James. When he was young he worked for the cathedral. He started painting during his adolescence when one day, on a whim, he sketched the portrait of a chaplain on a wall with a
charcoal. Some people assert that he instead studied with
Giuseppe Patania. When his studies ended he went back to Alcamo, where he produced many paintings with religious backgrounds, 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. == Works ==