Pietro Antonio and Gregorio Are
Pietro Antonio and Gregorio Are - Daniela Spoto 2023, © CCIAA NU

Pietro Antonio e Gregorio Are

The father and son Pietro Antonio and Gregorio Are were both painters, active in the first half of the eighteenth century.

Their charming work is found in numerous churches in central Sardinia: the church of the Rosario, Orani, the basilica of Santa Maria dei Martiri, Fonni and the seventeenth-century sanctuary of 1600 Nostra Signora della Grazie, in the Seuna quarter of Nuoro.

Pietro Antonio and Gregorio Are, various sacred and historical episodes. Rosario Church, Orani, 18th century
Pietro Antonio and Gregorio Are, various sacred and historical episodes. Rosario Church, Orani, 18th century - © Beni Culturali Standard (BCS) - https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/2000159072-0#lg=1&slide=0
Pietro Antonio and Gregorio Are, frescoes inside the Madonna delle Grazie church, Nuoro
Pietro Antonio and Gregorio Are, frescoes inside the Madonna delle Grazie church, Nuoro - CC BY SA 3.0 Max.oppo, Wikipedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nuoro_-_affresco_delle_Grazie.jpg

In the early eighteenth century, their students had to travel the rustic roads running through the mountains of the Barbagia region to get to their studio.
Many of their frescoes, like the ones of the ‘Old’ Graces of Nuoro, were covered up by priests irritated by their excessively folksy style. 

Fonni, Santa Maria dei Martiri. Dome seen from below
Fonni, Santa Maria dei Martiri. Dome seen from below - CC BY-SA 3.0 Gianni Careddu, Commons Wikimedia - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fonni_-_Complesso_basilicale_di_Santa_Maria_dei_Martiri_(14).JPG

Their painting is clear and precise, with lighting, perspective and other elements reduced to the essentials. 

The Are had a clear vision of art, which they might have known only through printed reproductions.