Collection

Pasta Seller in Naples

Bartolomeo Pinelli

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-1716
Author: Bartolomeo Pinelli
Name: Pasta Seller in Naples
Date of creation: 1810s
Technique: etching watercolor
Material: paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 10.1 x 16.1

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: genre art
Provenance: Collection of Faina Tarashchanska (Lviv), 1966

Information about author

Author: Bartolomeo Pinelli
Artist's lifetime: 1781–1835
Biography: Bartolomeo Pinelli (1781, Rome – 1835, ibid.) was an Italian painter, engraver, and sculptor. He was the son of the ceramist G. B. Pinelli. Bartolomeo Pinelli was born in the Trastevere district (over the River Tiber). Street sketches of that western suburb of Rome repeatedly appeared in his graphic works later. He studied in Bologna, later on – at Accademia di San Luca (Academy of Saint Luke) in Rome. He attended the Academy of Felice Giani, an Italian painter of the Neoclassic style, from whom he inherited the drawing style. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Bartolomeo Pinelli took an interest in the engravings of the Renaissance, namely in the works by Marcantonio Raimondi, and started making etchings and lithographs out of his drawings. In 1809, Pinelli created his first series of watercolor etchings – Collection of 50 picturesque costumes (Raccola di cinquanta costumi pittoreschi). The album was reissued in 1814 and 1815. In 1816, a new version of the album under the title Nuova Raccolta di Cinquanta costumi pittoreschi incisi di acqua forte was released. Most of the Lviv engravings are from this series. The central theme of the artist's creative work is genre scenes (Costumi), which he saw in Rome, Naples, as well as the provinces of Abruzzo and Molise. Pinelli's engravings have not only artistic value but also carry important ethnographic information. In the 1820s and 1830s, the artist created drawings and engravings for poems by Torquato Tasso (1827–1829) and the novel “Don Quixote” (1834) by Miguel de Cervantes. One of Pinelli's famous series of drawings is Seven Hills of Rome (Sette colli di Roma) (1827–1830). The artist's works are housed in many Italian museums as well as in collections of other countries.

Object description

The first version of the engraving has not been defined. Presumably, the Lviv version is dated back to 1816. The composition is from the Neapolitan series. The action in the foreground is taking place on the coast of the Bay of Naples with Vesuvius in the distance. The chef is cooking steamed pasta in an oven and treating it to three boys, who are eating it with pleasure, using only their hands and teeth, sucking long pasta noodles with their mouths. This is a typical Neapolitan scene, in which local people eat their favorite traditional dish. The clothing of characters is painted with bright watercolor paints, with prevailing red, blue, and yellow colors.

Inscriptions

The author's signature is missing. In the center of the engraving under the image there is the work’s title Venditore di Массаroni, in Napoli. There is a number "16" in the upper right corner above the plate.

Pasta Seller in Naples

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