Adolfo De Carolis (De Karolis) (Montefiore Asia (AP), Jan. 6  1874 – Rome, Feb. 7 1928) was an Italian painter, engraver, illustrator and author of art.
In 1888, by advice of the architect Giuseppe Sacconi, he enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
where he attended courses of fellow Domenico Ferri. In 1892, once graduated, he moved to Rome, following courses Domenico Bruschi and Alessandro Morani Art Museum Industrial and joining the group "In Arte Libertas" in 1897,
embracing aesthetic and philosophical positions, derived from the thought of John Ruskin and William Morris.

The believe in philosophical works of Ruskin pushed De Carolis to consider the artistic production as a sort of aesthetic and moral mission, in which the artisanal work of the artist follows his high spiritual attitude and role. Second consequence of this aesthetic attitude was the reconsideration of the whole artistic production and the removal of any limits or hierarchies towards artistic techniques.  His works are also influenced by the fifteenth century Umbrian and Tuscany art. The Reinassance played for De Carolis around the same role played by the revival of Gothic for Morris.

Again, accordingly to the spiritual mission of the artist, every aspect of the human life should be fulfilled by art. The philosophical credo echoed the quest of a Gesamtkunstwerk, of the Total work of Art championed by Richard Wagner and by several national declination (especially Austrian) of the Symbolist and Art Nouveau Movements.

This aesthetic belief is quite strong and then evident in the  production of De Carolis. While some production (such as the illustrations for Francesca da Rimini) are quite influenced by Ruskin and Pre-raphaelite taste, the artisticr relationship with the famous writer and aesthete Gabriele D’Annunzio influenced De Carolis towards a more symbolic and decadent style, such as one can see in the illustration of Fedra and Il Notturno. The new spelling of the surname "De Karolis," which uses the first  decade of the century,  attributable to the fashion of exoticism, influenced by d’Annunzio.

Coherently with his credo on the Gesamtkunstwerk, De Carolis was active also as painter and decorator. One of his masterpiece as decorator is the  villa Costantini Brancadoro of San Benedetto del Tronto finished in 1904.

Anyway his fame was definitively bound to his activities as book and magazine illustrator. Apart as main and most famous  illustrator of D’Annunzio (eventually, he illustrated not only books but also the famous Mottos of D’Annunzio, as we will see in a following article), he was also a successful illustrator of two of the most influencing turn of the century Italian art magazines "Novissima" and "Hermes". For this latter he prepared an article on Decorative Modern Art (February 1904), in which he states, again, the interest accrued over the years to the unity of the arts, decorative and applied arts.