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Bruno Amadio
Bruno Amadio
Born	9 November 1911; Venice, Italy
Died	22 September 1981 (aged 69); Padua, Italy
Other names	Giovanni Bragolin; Angelo Bragolin; Franchot Seville;
Occupation	Painter
Notable work	The Crying Boy

'Bruno Amadio' (9 November 1911 – 22 September 1981), popularly known as Bragolin, and also known as Angelo Bragolin and Giovanni Bragolin, was the creator of the group of paintings known as Crying Boys.^[1] The paintings feature a variety of tearful children looking morosely straight ahead. They are sometimes called "Gypsy boys" although there is nothing specifically linking them to the Romani people.

He was an academically trained painter, working in post-war Venice as painter and restorer, producing the Crying Boy pictures for tourists. At least 65 such paintings were made under the name Bragolin, reproductions of which were sold worldwide. He was not always paid royalties for the reproductions.^{[citation needed]} In the 1970s he was found to be alive and well-to-do and still painting in Padua.^{[citation needed]} Claims that he fled to Spain after the war, painting children from a local orphanage which subsequently burned down, appear to be an unconfirmed urban legend.^[2]

References

^ Massimo Polidoro, "Curse That Painting!", Skeptical Inquirer, v.36, n.6, pp.17-19 (Nov.-Dec. 2012).
^ "BBC Radio 4 - Punt PI, Series 3, Episode 4". BBC.