He was born to a family of modest means. He was introduced to the art of painting by a local artist, originally from
Bologna, named Raffaele Astolfi (1829-1900); known for portraits in the
Academic style. In 1884, at the age of sixteen, he went to Munich, where he was able to enroll at the
Academy of Fine Arts, where his fellow Triestini,
Carlo Wostry and
Isidoro Grünhut, were also studying. His primary instructor was
Alexander von Wagner. During this time, he was influenced by the works of
Max Liebermann. In 1887, he visited Paris for the first time and spent six months there drawing, rather than painting oils, with
William Adolphe Bouguereau and
Joseph Nicolas Robert-Fleury. After a short stay in Venice, where he studied the works of
Favretto,
Velàquez,
Tintoretto and
Titian, he returned to Trieste. In 1889, thanks to contributions from some private individuals who were impressed by his talent, he was able to study in Rome. After winning an art prize established by the Baroness Cecilia de Rittmeyer, he had sufficient means to stay there for two more years. Shortly after, the
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna purchased his painting "Sii onesta" (Be Honest). The next period of his life involved extensive travelling; to Berlin, Munich, Budapest, Vienna (where his works were especially successful), then back to Paris in 1897. He finally paid a visit to London, to study English art from the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1903, he was invited to
Blenheim Palace, where he painted portraits of several members of the
Spencer family. In the spring of 1904, his mother died tragically. His close friend, the author
Italo Svevo, offered him the hospitality of his home in
Burano, where he met with the painters and Pieretto Bianco (1875-1937); old acquaintances from Paris. In the middle of summer, he left Burano. He died shortly after, aged only thirty-six, but the cause of his death is unknown. A retrospective of his works was held in his honor, and a small monument was erected on his grave at the Cimitero di Sant'Anna. A street in Trieste has been named after him. In 1932, the Circolo Artistico di Trieste placed a bust of Veruda in the Giardino Pubblico. It was created by the sculptor, Giovanni Mayer (1863-1946), a friend of Veruda's whose portrait he had painted. Veruda also appears as a character (the sculptor Stefano Balli) in Svevo's novel,
Senilità; translated into English under the title
As a Man Grows Older. ==Selected paintings==