UK
Back

Man and Women from the Village of Rivisondoli in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo

Bartolomeo Pinelli

  • Man and Women from the Village of Rivisondoli in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo 2
  • Man and Women from the Village of Rivisondoli in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo 3
Basic information
ID
Г-IV-1741
Author
Bartolomeo Pinelli
Name
Man and Women from the Village of Rivisondoli in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo
Date of creation
1816
Technique
etching watercolour
Material
paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
10 x 16.2
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
The engraving is from the Neapolitan series. This composition is known only in a version with a square frame dated 1823. A variant similar to the Lviv one was likely issued in 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 by Giovanni Scudellari in Rome in 1817. In that album, the etching was not painted with watercolours. A young man and a girl are depicted in the centre dancing fast. They are dressed in bright, traditional clothing. A girl is wearing a yellow and blue dress with ribbons; a pink skirt with a blue apron with floral patterns is put over it. On her feet are blue shoes with yellow bows; a necklace is around his neck. The young man is leading her in a dance along a mountain path. He is wearing a red jacket over a blue vest girded with a wide red and yellow belt, blue trousers, and white stockings. A Phrygian cap is on his head; on his feet are black shoes. To the right of the dancing couple, there is a big tree. Background colours are blurred green, blue, and ochre tones.
The Phrygian cap is a symbol of freedom. Between 1799 and 1815, the so-called Parthenopean Republic was established on the territory of the Kingdom of Naples (Parthenope is an ancient name of Naples). It was a satellite of Napoleonic France. This is probably where some items of clothing of the then-Neapolitans came from.
Inscriptions
In the lower left corner, there is the author's signature Pinelli written in italics, 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 del Paese di Rivisondoli Provincia dell'Aquila, Abruzzo Ultra. The number "34" is in the upper right corner above the plate.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Other