Collection

Woman from the Village of Pettorano and Fisherman near the Fucine Lake in the Province of l’Aquila in Upper Abruzzo

Bartolomeo Pinelli

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-1727
Author: Bartolomeo Pinelli
Name: Woman from the Village of Pettorano and Fisherman near the Fucine Lake in the Province of l’Aquila in Upper Abruzzo
Date of creation: 1816
Technique: etching watercolor
Material: paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 10 x 16

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 composition is known only in one version from the album Nuova Raccolta di Cinquanta costumi pittoreschi incisi di acqua forte published in Rome in 1816 and replicated in 1817. In the foreground, there is a girl depicted in a festive national dress typical of the province of Abruzzo, and a young fisherman with a fishnet in clumsy clothes. The man is wearing a black hat on his head and the same black boots tied like ciocia. The young man backed off from the beautiful girl dressed in an elegant and embroidered with patterns dress with a light green apron, and a long blue skirt. On the girl’s head there is an original Neapolitan poke bonnet; on her feet there are golden shoes. The girl is easy and confident in her manner; she is pointing at something, drawing the fisherman’s attention. The scene is taking place in the background of the non-existing Fucine Lake with a fishing boat on the lake’s surface and a mountain range in sight. The Fucine lake (Italian: Lago Fucino) is a lake in the Apennines that overflowed from time to time and flooded the surrounding fields. Julius Caesar planned to drain it. But it was accomplished only in 1875.

Inscriptions

In the lower right corner there is the author’s signature in italics – Pinelli, date – 1816, and the place of performance – Roma (illegibly). In the center of the engraving under the image there is the work’s title Donna del Paese di Pettorano, Pescatore del Lago Fucino Provincia dell’Aquila Abruzzo Ultra. There is a number "24" in the upper right corner above the plate.

Woman from the Village of Pettorano and Fisherman near the Fucine Lake in the Province of l’Aquila in Upper Abruzzo

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