The painter Giovanni Segantini (actually Giovanni Segatini) was born on January 15, 1858, in Arco, Italy. As an orphan with uncertain family relations and no valid papers, he was brought to a reform school, where he was trained as a cobbler. A priest who took him in noticed his talent for drawing. In 1874, Segantini began studying at the art academy Brera in Milan. There he achieved his first artistic successes. In 1877, he met Luigia Bugatti, with whom he had four children: Gottardo, Alberto, Mario, and Bianca. He lived with his family in Pusiano in Brianza from 1880 until 1886, when he left his family to live in Switzerland. Segantini lived in Savognin in Oberhalbstein until 1894, then in Maloja in Engadine. He is considered a Symbolist. His most well known works is his Alpine triptych, which consists of three parts: "Life," "Nature," and "Death." These paintings were produced between 1896 and 1899 and are in the possession of the Segantini Museum in St. Moritz. He died on September 28, 1899, at the Schafberg near Pontresina.