UK
Collection

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 watercolor
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
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
This engraving is from the Neapolitan series. Thе composition is known only in a version with a square frame dated 1823. It is likely that a variant similar to the "Lviv"one was issued in 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 by Giovanni Scudellari in Rome in 1817. In that album, the etching was not painted with watercolors. A young man and a girl are depicted in the centre; they are 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 there are blue shoes with yellow bows; there is a necklace 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. On his head there is a Phrygian cap; on his feet there are black shoes. To the right of the dancing couple, there is a big tree. Background colors are blurred green, blue, and ochre tones. The Phrygian cap is a symbol of freedom. Between 1799 and 1815, on the territory of the Kingdom of Naples there was the so-called Parthenopean Republic (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 center of the engraving under the image there is the work’s title Uomo, e Donna del Paese di Rivisondoli Provincia dell’Aquila, Abruzzo Ultra. There is a number "34" in the upper right corner above the plate.

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