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painting depicting Allegory of Italy, Oil on canvas, 19th century
About the Item
19thC
Allegory of Italy
Oil on canvas 64 x 40
Framed, 73 x 50 cm
During the 19th century, the fervent Italian cultural climate dominated by the aspiration for an Italy finally united meant that many Italian painters produced allegories in which the political message emerged clearly in the terms of propaganda and popular synthesis of higher ideological content. The canvas under consideration is, in fact, a spokesman for such instances, proposing an allegory of Italy, "a people of poets, artists, heroes, saints, thinkers, and scientists," and the Italian Risorgimento.
The canvas is of rare wonder not only for the singularity and richness of the iconography depicted, but also for character, solemnity, fluidity of color, drapery, and rawness of language. Italy, hieratic and majestic, dominates the center of the scene: positioned on a cloud dressed in a white tunic and wrapped in a red cloak, she holds a scepter in her right hand, while her head is encircled by the crown typical of ancient depictions of Italia Turrita. Pathos is charged by the enveloping brushwork, compositional dynamism, and warm light that envelops the scene and lingers with intensity on the face. It is flanked by two winged putti, which, together with the semi-recumbent figures below may symbolize the fertility and gifts that the Italian land bestows on its people.
In the background is clearly visible the column with the Capitoline She-wolf, the animal that took care of the two founders Romulus and Remus, becoming a symbol of the founding of Rome, the eternal city.
The artist then chooses to depict a procession of characters and allegories that were easily recognizable to the audience of the time. In fact, from left to right we can identify, respectively: Sandro Botticelli; Dante Alighieri, the Supreme Poet as well as "prophet of the Unification of Italy"; Leonardo da Vinci; Giuseppe Parini, a man of letters committed to the civil and moral sense; and Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of Italy following the abdication of his father Charles Albert in 1848, dressed in military attire. On the right we find a female figure in whom it is possible to recognize the allegory of the Venetian Republic, with the ducal horn, the classic doge's headdress and the shield with the lion, while on the left is proposed Napoleon's France, imagined by the artist as a woman with long, loose hair encircled by a sash with the monogram "N" framed by a crown of laurel leaves: Napoleon was, in fact, the one who awakened in many places in Italy the desire for independence. Finally, below are two elders crowned with laurel, variously identified either with the two celebrated poets of antiquity Homer, caught in the act of holding a staff, and Hesiod, both embodiments of the ancient world or as personifications of the Tiber and Arno rivers, as the depicted waters would also seem to suggest.
- Dimensions:Height: 28.75 in (73 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)Depth: 1.19 in (3 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:Canvas,Oiled
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:unfamiliar
- Condition:Reupholstered.
- Seller Location:Milan, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5918239443732
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