UK
Collection

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

Bartolomeo Pinelli

  • Man and Woman from the Village of Lecce in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo 2
  • Man and Woman from the Village of Lecce in the Province of L'Aquila in Upper Abruzzo 3
Basic information
ID
Г-IV-1761
Author
Bartolomeo Pinelli
Name
Man and Woman from the Village of Lecce 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 16.3
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 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. A similar composition in a square frame is known from 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 similar engraving to the "Lviv'' one but in a black-and-white version might have been issued in the albums dated 1816 and 1817. It is a foreground composition with a neutral background. Two figures are depicted in the center. One of them is a young shepherd who stopped by two of his sheep, a ram and a sheep. The ram is tickling the sheep’s hair. A young girl in traditional festive clothes, who approached the man, is pointing at the animals with her hand. The girl is dressed in a bright red and yellow dress with long sleeves and bows on the shoulders, and a blue skirt with an apron with zoomorphic and floral motifs tied over it (raspberry horses, double-headed eagles, and flowers). On her head there is a traditional flattop headscarf; on her feet there are blue boots. The curly young man is dressed in a purple jacket and narrow yellow pants; there is a black hat on the back of his head. He put a long stick on his shoulder, looking closely at the girl. To the left and right of the figures are green plantings on hills; they are performed with blurred watercolors.
Inscriptions
In the lower right 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 Villalago, Provincia dell’Aquila, Abruzzo Ultra. There is a number "49" in the upper right corner above the plate.

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