1874 - 1874 - XIX

GAM 1523

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 75; Larghezza: 62

olio su tela

The work comes from the Genoese collection of Giuseppe Bertollo's heirs, auctioned at the Galleria Scopinich in Milan in May 1928. In 1936, it was included in the volume on Luigi Frugone's collection compiled by Enrico Somarè. The painting depicts a pleasant female subject in neo-eighteenth-century terms, in a style and with influences perhaps inspired by the artist's stay in Paris in 1866, during which he had the opportunity to become acquainted with the work of two virtuosos of the brush, Mariano Fortuny and Jean-Louis Meissonier. There is a version of this painting, probably from the same period but more sketchy in tone, belonging to a private collection, in which the features of Carolina Marignani, the artist's wife, have been recognised. A watercolour, formerly in a private collection in Milan, is dated 1872 and is considered to be an early idea for this canvas. The museum has two other paintings on wood by Mosè Bianchi, belonging to the estate of Lazzaro G.B. Frugone: “Barca a Chioggia” (Boat in Chioggia) and “Vecchia Milano” (Old Milan), both dating from the mid-1880s. In this canvas, signed and dated “Mosè Bianchi/Milan 1874”, the intensity of the light illuminating the scene serves to highlight the almost miniature-like preciousness of the details, rendered in enamelled colours with an approach reminiscent of the style of painter Giuseppe Bertini, Bianchi's teacher. At the centre of the scene, the figure of the painter stands out in her dark clothes, focused on the painting in front of her.