Mussini was born in Berlin, son of the composer
Natale Mussini,
Kapellmeister at the
Prussian court, and his wife Giuliana, musician and singer, daughter of the composer
Giuseppe Sarti. He studied at the
Accademia delle Belle Arti in
Florence under
Pietro Benvenuti and
Giuseppe Bezzuoli. He began working with his older brother,
Cesare Mussini, who had also trained at the Academy. In 1840 he obtained a study grant which enabled him to spend four years in Rome studying painting. He was inspired by the masters of the
Quattrocento and in 1844 he opened a school in Florence, where among his students were
Silvestro Lega and
Michele Gordigiani. In 1848 he joined as a patriotic volunteer in the
First Italian War of Independence. Disillusioned by the unhappy outcome, he withdrew to Paris, where he frequented the studios of
Ingres,
Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin,
William Haussoullier and other artists. In 1852 he move to
Siena to teach at that city's Academy of Fine Arts, where his pupils included
Angelo Visconti,
Amos Cassioli,
Cesare Maccari,
Pietro Aldi,
Alessandro Franchi and
Ricciardo Meacci. Mussini's wife
Luigia Mussini Piaggio, also a painter, died in labor in 1865 giving birth to their daughter Luisa Mussini who became the wife (and assistant) in 1893 of her father's former pupil Alessandro Franchi. Among his works are: •
Musca Sacra (1841) •
L Elemosina secondo il Vangelo •
I profanotori del Tempio •
Il trionfo della Verita •
I Parentali de Platone • ''L'Eudoro and Cimodocea compare paganism to christianity'' •
Decamerone Senese • ''L'educazione a Sparta'' (1869) == Sources ==