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Man and Woman from Afragola in the Province of Terra di Lavoro in the Kingdom of Naples

Bartolomeo Pinelli

  • Man and Woman from Afragola in the Province of Terra di Lavoro in the Kingdom of Naples 2
  • Man and Woman from Afragola in the Province of Terra di Lavoro in the Kingdom of Naples 3
Basic information
ID
Г-IV-1738
Author
Bartolomeo Pinelli
Name
Man and Woman from Afragola in the Province of Terra di Lavoro in the Kingdom of Naples
Date of creation
1816
Technique
etching watercolour
Material
paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
10 x 16
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 work is from the Neapolitan series. The composition is known from the album Raccolta di Cinquanta Costumi li più interesanti delle città, terre e paesi in provincie 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 in Rome in 1816. Before that, the engraving of the same name but in black and white and in a square frame was published in the album dated 1814. That composition by Pinelli replicated with some modifications the coloured etching by the Roman artist Antonio Zaballi (1738–1785), which was performed after the painting by Alessandro d'Anni and published in Naples in 1792 – Raccolta di Varie vestiture che costumano nell Città Paesi in Provincie diverse del Regno di Napoli, edito a Napoli da Nicola Gervasi e Vincenzo Talani nel 1792. The Lviv engraving is less detailed, but it is more dynamic. A young woman approached a young man sitting on a stone. He is wearing a military uniform, namely a blue jacket, red pants, and white stockings. On his head is a cocuzzolo cap; a hat worn over a cocuzzolo cap is lying on a stone nearby. The young man is leaning on the stick he holds in his left hand. With his other hand, he is trying to reach a woman, wanting to stop her. She is looking at him calmly, warming her hands in the muff. She is wearing a long dark blue skirt with a blue apron over it and a red cap with gold ribbons. A chain with a cross is seen on her neck. The action is taking place on one of the hills. The low trees, mountain range and clouds in the sky serve as the background of the composition. 
Afragola is a city north of Naples, one of the most developed districts of the Campania region in the 18th and 19th centuries. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was the centre of Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia.
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' Afragola, Provincia di Terra di Lavoro nel Regno di Napoli. The number "33" is in the upper right corner above the plate.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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