Mancinelli was born in
Rome, Italy. He was the eldest of seven children born to the painter,
Giuseppe Mancinelli, and his wife, Maddalena née Arnoldi. His father began teaching him to paint when he was still very young. His first showing was at the Bourbon Exhibition of 1855, in Naples, when he was only thirteen years old, and he was awarded a silver medal. In 1859, he was awarded a gold medal for his depiction of a
communion in the
catacombs. His first exhibition at the Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts was held in 1864. He would continue to exhibit with them regularly until 1884. During those years, he created several works in the
Orientalist genre, most of which were judged very harshly. Some historical scenes were purchased by the
province of Naples. In the late seventies, he began to exhibit more widely; in Rome,
Milan and
Turin, including Rome's International Art Exhibition of 1883, where he presented a portrait of Queen
Margherita of Savoy. In 1891, in addition to his paintings, he did work at the
Teatro Politeama, Palermo. This included a curtain, depicting
Aeschylus at the court of ancient
Syracuse, and decorations with scenes from the
Eleutherian Festivals. Four years later, he worked at the in Syracuse, decorating the vault of the dome with
Daphne, in a forest populated by
Nymphs. From 1897 to 1898, he was one of the artists who created
frescoes for the trading hall at the new
Naples Stock Exchange building. He also painted a few
altarpieces, including one for the chapel of
Saint Augustine in the church of
Santa Maria di Piedigrotta. ==References==