Painter born in Messina, Subba received an education strictly academic, first in Naples, then Rome and Florence. During his permanence in Rome, he painted two pictures depicting the interior of the studio Canova while carving Theseus (1819) and the interior of the study of Thorwaldsen when modeling the three graces. In 1823 he returned to Messina. Thanks to the prestige he enjoyed, Subba was authorized by the city of Messina to open a school of drawing and painting at the Royal Academia Carolina. He was then appointed by the Bourbon government as director of the Fine Arts School of the University, attended by a whole generation of artists from Messina.
In 1834 , together with his brother Francesco, Subba realized the bronze statue of Francis I of the Two Sicilies which he later destroyed and melted in the 1848 to make cannonballs. In those years, he painted some watercolors related to the Greek War of Independence , with a clear patriotic intent.
In 1844 he planned, (also directing the construction works) the Theatre Mandanici of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto -which was destroyed by the 1908 Earthquake of Messina. In 1848 Subba took part in the revolt of Messina. The revolt failed and he was forced to flee to Malta . During the Maltese exile, the direction of the School of Fine Arts Messina was entrusted to Michele Panebianco .
In 1854 Subba obtained the grace and returned to Messina, where he continued to work until his death on 11 January 1868.
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- Wikipedia, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterio_Subba
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