UK
Collection

Man and Woman from the Village of Cappadocia in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo

Bartolomeo Pinelli

  • Man and Woman from the Village of Cappadocia in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo 2
  • Man and Woman from the Village of Cappadocia in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo 3
Basic information
ID
Г-IV-1751
Author
Bartolomeo Pinelli
Name
Man and Woman from the Village of Cappadocia in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo
Date of creation
1816
Technique
etching watercolor
Material
paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
10.3 x 16.5
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 work is from the Neapolitan series. The first known version of the engraving dates back to 1814. In this engraving, one can see a composition that is similar to the "Lviv" one but presented in a square frame; it was issued in the album Raccolta di 50 costumi li più interressanti 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 1814. A composition that is similar to the “Lviv” one is known from the album Nuova raccolta di 50 costumi… published in Rome in 1816. In the foreground, one can see a young shepherd and a young woman, sitting on a stone; she is dressed in bright national clothes. A sheep and two rams are lying quietly between them; they are a part of the herd that was brought to the mountain by a shepherd. He is looking at the beautiful woman with admiration. The woman is turned to the shepherd in a graceful "Greek" profile. She is wearing a red and yellow vest with accentuated sleeve cuffs, a blue apron with lace, and a long blue skirt, under which her red shoe can be seen. There is a light bonnet on her head; there are several strings of coral beads around her neck. The woman is holding the lace near her knees. There is loose wool and embroidered fabric near her elbow on the stone. The action is taking place in the background of green trees, behind which one of the most majestic peaks of the Apennines is seen. Cappadocia is a village between the ranges in the heart of the Apennines, on the border of the modern provinces of Lazio and Abruzzo.
Inscriptions
In the lower right corner there is the author’s signature Pinelli f [fecit], and date – 1816. In the center of the engraving under the image there is the work’s title Uomo, e Donna del Paese di Cappadocia, Provincia dell’Aquila, Abruzzo Ultra. There is a number "42" in the upper right corner above the plate.

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