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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 watercolour
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
Country
Italy
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 was born in ​​the Trastevere district (over the Tiber River). He studied in Bologna and later at the Academy of Saint Luke in Rome. The artist attended the Academy of Felice Giani, an Italian painter of the Neoclassic style, from whom he adopted the drawing style. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, 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 watercolour etchings – Collection of Fifty Picturesque Costumes (Raccolta di Cinquanta Costumi Pittoreschi). The album was reissued in 1814 and 1815. In 1816, a new version of the album under the title New Collection of Fifty Picturesque Costumes (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 work is genre scenes (Costumi), which he saw in Rome and Naples, as well as the provinces of Abruzzo and Molise. Pinelli's engravings are not only of 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 and collections of other countries.
Object description
This work is from the Neapolitan series. The composition is known from the album Raccolta di Cinquanta Costumi li più interesanti delle città, terre e paesi in provincia diverse del Regno di Napoli (Collection of Fifty Most Interesting Picturesque Costumes from Cities, Towns and Villages of Different Provinces of the Kingdom of Naples) published in Rome in 1816. The album work was not painted as saturated and bright as 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 touched his hand gently. She is dressed in a blue and yellow dress, a white apron with floral motifs, and a long pink skirt. On her head is a scarf with openwork edgings; on her neck is a necklace; and on her feet are bright blue shoes with yellow overlays. The young man is slightly hunched, leaning his hands on the stick. He wears a purple camisole over a yellow vest, red knee-length pants, white stockings, and black boots; on his head is a wide-brimmed hat. The meeting scene takes place on a mountain hill against the background of slopes with low trees, where one can see the top of the mountain range in the background.
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 centre of the engraving, under the image, is the work's title: Uomo, e Donna della Città di Chieti, Abruzzo Citra. The number "30" is in the upper right corner above the plate.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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