Collection of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum.

Portrait of José de la Guerra by Leonardo Barbieri.

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It is sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction concerning the life of Leonardo Barbieri. He arrived in California in the late 1840s, supposedly to paint the portraits of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Monterey, yet none of these portraits ever surfaced. He supposedly was executed by the Mexican government in 1854, yet documentation places him in Peru a short time later. As one writer who attempted to trace Barbieri’s life complained, “[I ended up] embarking on a wild goose chase after a man of mystery.” Nevertheless, what is known is that he left behind a wonderful visual record of some of California’s most powerful families.

Barbieri was a native of Savoy, Italy, born about 1810. He had a gift for languages, and spoke Italian, French, and Spanish. The bulk of his art studies took place in Lyons. In 1844, he sailed for Argentina, and arrived that autumn in Buenos Aires. The reason behind his journey remains unknown; there are hints of some personal misfortune, although simple wanderlust could also have played a role in his decision.

He made a modest living with his art, primarily painting portraits on commission. He also taught painting for a short time at a university in Bolivia. He was drawn to California, as so many others were, by rumors of the riches that could be made in the gold fields. He probably arrived in California sometime in 1849. He soon found, however, that striking it rich was easier said than done and, by late 1849, he had settled in San Francisco where he once again took up his paintbrushes.

Barbieri developed a number of connections in San Francisco and these allowed him, in 1850, to travel up and down the state to fulfill commissions. One of his first was a portrait of Rosario Aguirre, wife of José Francisco Aguirre. The latter had built one of the finest adobe homes in Santa Barbara in the early 1840s, before eventually moving back to San Diego. Reportedly, Barbieri received $500 for his work.

In the summer of 1850, Barbieri set up a studio in the Hill-Carrillo adobe on what is now the first block of East Carrillo Street. Probably the first portrait he painted here was that of José de la Guerra y Noriega, arguably Santa Barbara’s most powerful and influential citizen. He also painted portraits of a number of Carrillo family members, including Judge Joaquín Carrillo, first District Judge of Southern California. This painting was rediscovered in an old barn on De la Vina Street in 1957 and restored. The citizenry of the town, in fall 1850, took up a collection, amounting to some $300, to have Barbieri paint José Gonzales Rubio, a beloved padre at Santa Barbara Mission. Barbieri returned to Santa Barbara early in 1852 to paint the portrait of Carlos Antonio Carrillo, former Mexican governor of California. In all, some 30 of Barbieri’s works survived from the artist’s California years.

By the summer of 1853, Barbieri had made his way to Mexico City, traveling with one Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon. The Frenchman presented a plan to the Mexican government to settle Sonora in return for mineral rights. The arrangement fell apart; Raousset-Boulbon forced the issue, and had a run-in with Mexican troops. He was captured and executed. Although Barbieri had been part of his friend’s “army,” the artist escaped punishment.

Barbieri then turned up in Peru where he taught, painted, and staged exhibitions. About 1871, in ill-health and dire financial straits, he returned to Europe. He died in Savoy one or two years later. He left behind a body of portrait work that captured a key transitional period in California history as the Mexican era ended and the American period began.

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