UK
Collection

Man and Woman from the City of Chieti, Abruzzo Citra

Bartolomeo Pinelli

  • Man and Woman from the City of Chieti, Abruzzo Citra 2
  • Man and Woman from the City of Chieti, Abruzzo Citra 3
Basic information
ID
Г-IV-1735
Author
Bartolomeo Pinelli
Name
Man and Woman from the City of Chieti, Abruzzo Citra
Date of creation
1816
Technique
etching watercolor
Material
paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
10.2 x 16.3
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 a son of the ceramist J. B. Pinelli. Bartolomeo Pinelli was born in ​​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 studio of Felice Giani, an Italian painter of the Neoclassic style, from whom he inherited the style of drawing. 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 Lviv's engravings are from this series. The main 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 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
This work is from the Neapolitan series. The composition is known from the album Raccolta di 50 costumi li più interesanti delle città, terre e paesi in provincia diverse del Regno di Napoli (Collection of 50 most interesting picturesque costumes from cities, towns and villages of different provinces of the Kingdom of Naples) published in Rome in 1816. In the album, it was not painted with such saturated and bright colors as in the so-called Lviv version. In the foreground, one can see a man and a woman dressed in traditional festive clothing. They met on the road and the woman was touching his hand gently. She is dressed in a blue and yellow dress with a white apron with floral motifs and a long pink skirt. On her head there is a scarf with openwork edgings, on her neck there is a necklace, and on her feet there are bright blue shoes with yellow overlays. The young man is a little hunched, so he is leaning his hands on the stick. He is wearing a purple camisole over a yellow vest, red knee-length pants, white stockings, and black boots; on his head there is a wide-brimmed hat. The scene of the meeting is taking place on a mountain hill, against the background of slopes with low trees, where in the background one can see the top of the mountain range. Chieti is one of the oldest cities in Italy (according to the legend it was founded by the hero Achilles in the 12th century BC). It is the capital of the province of the same name in the region of Abruzzo. It is located on a hill above the Adriatic coast.
Inscriptions
In the lower left 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 Uomo, e Donna della Città di Chieti, Abruzzo Citra. There is a number "30" in the upper right corner above the plate.

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