Gaetano Meo facts for kids

Gaetano Giuseppe Faostino Meo (1849–1925) was a talented Italian-British artist. He was known for being a model for many famous painters, but he was also a skilled landscape painter himself. On top of that, he was an amazing craftsman who created beautiful mosaics and stained glass art. His own life story, which was never published, is a great resource for people who study art history from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Gaetano Meo: An Artist's Model

Gaetano Meo was born in a small town in southern Italy. His father, Rocco Meo, was a shepherd. When Gaetano was about 15 years old, in 1864, he and his older brother made an incredible journey. They walked all the way from Naples, Italy, to Paris, France! They earned money by playing the harp and lute as street musicians, saving up to travel to the United States.

By 1866, Gaetano was working as an artist's model in Paris. Since they didn't have passports, he and his brother had to be secretly brought into the United Kingdom on a cargo ship. Gaetano stayed in London, but his brother continued on to America.

Alone in London, Gaetano tried to find safer places to play his harp, like Italian restaurants, instead of on the streets where he might get arrested. A famous painter named Simeon Solomon, who was part of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, said he discovered 18-year-old Gaetano playing his harp on the street. Gaetano's looks were perfect for paintings about ancient Greek myths, and artists loved to use him as a model. In 1867, Solomon painted a portrait of Gaetano as Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and celebration.

Gaetano Meo became a popular model for many other important British painters. These included Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, Frederic Leighton, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and the sculptor Hamo Thornycroft. By 1870, he also started working as an assistant in Rossetti's art studio.

Working with Edward Burne-Jones

Edward Burne-Jones, another famous artist, used Gaetano Meo and Maria Zambaco as models for his painting Phyllis and Demophoön (1870). This painting tells a story from ancient Greek myths. In the story, a princess named Phyllis falls in love with Demophoön, who promises to return to her. When he doesn't, Phyllis turns into an almond tree. Burne-Jones's painting shows the amazing moment when the tree branches suddenly become Phyllis's arms, embracing Demophoön as he finally returns. Some people didn't like the painting, so Burne-Jones took it out of the art show after only two weeks.

Friendship with William Blake Richmond

Gaetano Meo and the artist William Blake Richmond became very close friends for almost 50 years. Their friendship started in a mysterious way in 1872. Gaetano arrived at Richmond's country house looking for modeling work. He met a beautiful woman who showed him to the artist's studio. Gaetano later believed this woman was the ghost of Richmond's first wife, Charlotte. He felt it was a sign that he and Richmond were meant to work together.

Gaetano became Richmond's main model, studio helper, and even his student. He likely posed for the strong angels in Richmond's painting The Watchers, which was a tribute to Charlotte. Later, Gaetano helped Richmond with large wall paintings (murals) and even managed his business deals with clients. For over ten years, he led the team that created Richmond's amazing mosaic artworks at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Artworks Featuring Gaetano Meo

Here are some of the famous artworks where Gaetano Meo was the model:

• Simeon Solomon, Bacchus (1867), Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK
• Simeon Solomon, The Sleepers and One that Watcheth (1867), Leamington Spa Art Gallery, UK
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Dante's Dream at the Time of Beatrice's Death (1869-1871), Walker Art Gallery, UK
• Edward Burne-Jones, Phyllis and Demophoön (1870), Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK
• Frederic Leighton, The Arts of Industry as Applied to War (mural, 1870-1872), Victoria and Albert Museum, London
• Edward Burne-Jones, Love Among the Ruins (1870-1873), private collection
• George Heming Mason, The Harvest Moon (1872), Tate Britain, London
• Edward Burne-Jones, Dies Domine (1873-1874), which shows Meo as Christ. This was later made into a stained-glass window (1876) for a church in Easthampstead, UK.
• William Blake Richmond, The Watchers (1873-1876), private collection
• Edward Burne-Jones, Le Chante d'Amour (The Love Song) (1877), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
• William Blake Richmond, The Song of Miriam (1880), Chi Mei Museum, Taiwan
• Lawrence Alma-Tadema, An Audience at Agrippa's (1881), Dick Institute, UK
• Henry Holiday, Dante and Beatrice (1883), Walker Art Gallery, UK
• Hamo Thornycroft, The Mower (bronze statue, 1888-1890), Tate Britain, London
• William Blake Richmond, Venus and Anchises (1890), Walker Art Gallery, UK

Gaetano Meo: An Artist Himself

Gaetano Meo wasn't just a model; he became a talented artist too!

Painting

With help from William Blake Richmond, Gaetano became a very good landscape painter. He even showed his paintings at the famous Royal Academy of Arts. He also helped Richmond paint large murals at Christ Church in Cheltenham.

Today, you can find four of Gaetano Meo's paintings in public collections in the United Kingdom. These include Looking towards London from the Heath, Tooley's Farm, and Wyldes Farm in the Camden Council collection. His painting Arundel Castle, West Sussex, Looking from the Back of the Railway Station is at the Towner Gallery.

Stained Glass

Gaetano Meo also became an expert in stained glass. He worked with Henry Holiday, who was a chief designer for a well-known stained-glass company. From 1875, Gaetano helped Holiday create the large drawings (called cartoons) needed for stained-glass designs. By 1880, he was Holiday's assistant, helping to make these beautiful windows.

In 1888, Holiday and Richmond helped Gaetano become a British citizen. To celebrate, Holiday threw a party where he sang a funny song about Gaetano becoming an Englishman!

Gaetano also helped William Blake Richmond create the stunning stained-glass windows for the main part of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Sadly, these windows were destroyed during World War II. He also helped with windows for Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Street. Gaetano even designed and made his own stained-glass window for the Church of St. Saviour in St. Albans, UK, between 1902 and 1904.

Mosaics

Gaetano Meo was also a master of mosaics. In the 1880s, he traveled to Italy to study ancient mosaics in cities like Ravenna and Venice.

In 1891, William Blake Richmond was asked to paint murals for St. Paul's Cathedral. But Richmond suggested mosaics instead, saying they would last much longer. He got the job to design new Byzantine-style mosaics for the cathedral's choir and apse (the curved part behind the altar). Richmond wanted the mosaics to be very vibrant, using jagged, uneven pieces of glass set at angles to catch the light.

For almost twelve years, Gaetano Meo led the team of artists who created these mosaics. They used an ancient method, carefully placing each tiny piece of glass into the wet plaster by hand. The huge mosaic project was finished in 1904.

Gaetano also showed his own mosaic artwork, a panel of roses, at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, USA. He supervised the creation of a large mosaic dome for Debenham House in London (1912-1913) and led the team making mosaics for Westminster Cathedral (1913-1915). From 1916 to 1918, he created his own mosaic panels for the Church of St. John the Baptist in Clayton, West Yorkshire.

Gaetano Meo's Family Life

In 1868, Gaetano Meo married Agnes Morton, who was from Ireland. They lived in Hampstead, London, and had six children: three sons and three daughters.

One of his daughters, Elena Fortuna Meo, became a professional violinist. She had three children with Edward Gordon Craig, who was a famous scenic designer and the son of the well-known actress Ellen Terry.

Sadly, one of Gaetano's sons, Alfonzo Giovanni Battista Meo, died in World War I in 1916 during the lead-up to the Battle of the Somme.

After his wife Agnes passed away in 1921, Gaetano created a special grave marker for her at Hampstead Cemetery. It featured a beautiful glass mosaic of the Madonna and Child. Gaetano, Agnes, and their young son "Little Bertie" (who died at age 7) are all buried there.

Gaetano Meo's grandson, Edward Carrick, who was a film art designer, started writing a book about his grandfather but never finished it. More recently, Gaetano Meo's great-granddaughter, Helen Craig (who illustrates the Angelina Ballerina children's books), helped restore his grave at Hampstead Cemetery in 2018.

Images for kids

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  Simeon Solomon, The Sleepers and One that Watcheth, 1867, Leamington Spa Art Gallery, Warwickshire, UK. (Meo is the man on the right)

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  Simeon Solomon, A Prelude by Bach, 1868, private collection

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  Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Dante's Dream on the Day of the Death of Beatrice, watercolour, 1869-1871, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK

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  Simeon Solomon, A Youth Relating Tales to Ladies, (1870), Tate Britain, London

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  Frederic Leighton, The Arts of Industry as Applied to War, mural, 1870-1872, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

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  Edward Burne-Jones, Love Among the Ruins, watercolour, 1870-1873, private collection

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  George Heming Mason, The Harvest Moon, 1872, Tate Britain, London

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  Edward Burne-Jones, The Feast of Peleus, (1872, reworked 1881), Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK

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  Edward Burne-Jones, The Love Song, 1877, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

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  William Blake Richmond, The Song of Miriam, 1880, Chi Mei Museum, Taiwan

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  Lawrence Alma-Tadema, An Audience at Agrippa's, 1881, Dick Institute, Kilmarnock, UK

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  Henry Holiday, Dante and Beatrice, 1883, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK

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  William Blake Richmond, Venus and Anchises, 1890, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK

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  The Last Supper (1916-1918), Lady Chapel, Church of St. John the Baptist, Clayton, West Yorkshire

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  The Good Shepherd (1916-1918), over high altar, Church of St. John the Baptist, Clayton, West Yorkshire

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  Ruth Amidst the Alien Corn (1916-1918), Church of St. John the Baptist, Clayton, West Yorkshire

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  The Angel Gabriel and the Infant St. John (1916-1918), Church of St. John the Baptist, Clayton, West Yorkshire