Sermon in the Square

Bartolomeo Pinelli

Basic information

ID: Г-IV-1722
Author: Bartolomeo Pinelli
Name: Sermon in the Square
Date of creation: 1816
Technique: etching watercolour
Material: paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 10.2 x 16.1

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

In 1815, Pinelli made the work titled La Predica in Piazza in the series Costumi di Roma for the album Nuova Raccolta di Cinquanta costumi pittoreschi incisi di acqua forte (New Collection of Fifty Picturesque Costumes) that was issued in 1816 by the publishing house Nicola de Antoni impresse, Ignazio Pavon Offre e Dedica in Rome (it was later reprinted in 1817). The engraving from the Lviv collection, in contrast to its first version, shows fewer architectural details and a smaller crowd of people in front of the preacher. However, the Capuchin monk, preaching on the podium and holding the crucifix in his hand, is shown as a persuasive, expressive speaker (unlike the previous engraving, where the preacher is depicted as a calm and old monk). Next to him, two Capuchin brothers with hoods on their heads are shown on their knees, holding lanterns with oil lamps. On the right, there is an exalted audience fascinated by the sermon. The artist depicted people of different classes. In the foreground, one can see a legless cripple. The simple and fast drawing is painted with contrasting watercolours; the artist actively used brown and light grey, except for the figures on the right, which are painted in bright colours.
Capuchin Monks or The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capucinorum) is a Catholic order that separated from the Franciscans in the 16th century. The Capuchins were characterized by charity and asceticism. Their clothing consisted of a brown soutane with a hood sewn to it, a rope with a knot on the belt (a symbol of the inviolability of vows), and sandals worn on their bare feet.

Inscriptions

In the lower left corner, there is the author's signature Pinelli written in italics and an illegible date – 1816. In the centre of the engraving, under the image, is the work's title La Predica in Piazza. The number "21" is in the upper right corner of the engraving above the plate.

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Sermon in the Square

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