Antonacci Lapiccirella Fine Art
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • About us
  • Exhibitions
  • Collection
  • Publications
  • News
  • Notable Sales
  • Services
  • Contact
  • EN
  • IT
Menu
  • EN
  • IT
Collection
  • Collection

WORKS ON PAPER

FRANCESCO PAOLO MICHETTI, Self-portrait, 1877
FRANCESCO PAOLO MICHETTI, Self-portrait, 1877

FRANCESCO PAOLO MICHETTI Tocco da Casauria, 1851-Francavilla al Mare, 1929

Self-portrait, 1877
Pastel and tempera on paper
71 x 71 cm
Signed and dated lower right: 'Michetti 77'
Higher center: Amonasro ?
ENQUIRE
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EFRANCESCO%20PAOLO%20MICHETTI%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ESelf-portrait%3C/span%3E%2C%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1877%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EPastel%20and%20tempera%20on%20paper%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E71%20x%2071%20cm%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22signed_and_dated%22%3ESigned%20and%20dated%20lower%20right%3A%20%27Michetti%2077%27%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22edition_details%22%3EHigher%20center%3A%20Amonasro%20%3F%3Cbr/%3E%0A%3C/div%3E

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) Thumbnail of additional image
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) Thumbnail of additional image
View on a wall
Read more

Provenance

Aldo and Amelia Ambron collection

Self-portraiture was a genre that Michetti pursued with assiduity and determination in the 1870s and '80s, producing a number of true masterpieces which perfectly capture the strong, magnetic and introspective bond that he nurtured with reality.

The hitherto unpublished Self-portrait of Francesco Paolo Michetti presented here, from the private collection of Amalia and Aldo Ambron, is a work on paper displaying dazzling draughtsmanship with forms sculpted by the light and embellished with bright, vibrant colour contrasts. Its superb quality places it squarely in the celebrated series of Self-portraits which the artist produced in and around 1877. We might point, for instance, to the type represented by the Self-portrait in pastel and tempera on paper, c. 1877, now in the Intesa San Paolo Collection[i] [fig. 1] or the Self-portait in pastel on paper, c. 1877, now in the Museo Nazionale di San Martino in Naples[ii] [fig. 2], both of which bear a remarkable resemblance to the features of the artist as seen in a photograph portraying him with the German dealer Reitlinger[iii] [fig. 3].

 

 

 fig. 1        fig. 2      fig. 3

 

But the stern and serious look on the face of the artist who produced this Self-portrait seems to be closer in type to the Self-portrait in pastel on paper dated 1877 now in the Museo Nazionale di San Martino in Naples[iv] [fig. 4], it too displaying rapidly sketched flowers by the head, bottom left; this is in fact the type also documented by the Self-portrait (Jest) in pastel on paper dated 1877, now in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles[v] [fig. 5]. And we can also detect a remarkable similarity between the latter two Self-portraits and a photographic portrait of the painter taken at F. Lammara's studio in Naples in 1876 [vi] [fig. 6].

 

 

 fig. 4          fig. 5.     fig. 6      

  

It is common knowledge that the practice of studying forms of reality through photography was a constant throughout Michetti's career, producing results of astonishing modernity that herald the combination of stimuli and evocation in the transition from Realism to Symbolism at the turn of the 19th century[vii].

His growth as a painter was fuelled by a skilled and eclectic inclination whose goal was the mutual enhancement of light and colour in a new scale of values on the painted surface appearing to fly in the face of the accepted method for constructing perspective. Drawn by the innovations of international naturalism, by an impressionist manner influenced as much by the nervous yet elegant draughtsmanship of Fortuny as by the flat and glossy palette of the Japanese print, Michetti perfected the pastel technique that he had learnt from Edoardo Dalbono, combining it with tempera. He was fond of tempera and pastel for the luminosity that the medium permits if applied with rapid, nervous brush strokes made of streaks, touches and dabs of paint.

For Michetti, the years between 1871 and 1877 coincided with a period of rapid success on the international scene in London and Paris and with an early appearance on the collector's market in America. These achievements were followed by success in Italy, with several dates marking the peak of his popularity: 1877, the year of the National exhibition in Naples; 1880, that of the National Exhibition in Turin; and 1881, that of the National Exhibition in Milan.

The many works he showed in Milan included an oil painting entitled Aida dedicated to the opera singer Giuseppina De Giuli-Borsi, the lead soprano in an acclaimed performance of Verdi's opera set in ancient Egypt at the Teatro Marruccino in Chieti in April 1877. The painting appeared on the antique market in 2001 (Aida, oil on canvas, 48 x 34 cm) with an autograph dedication: “Alla De Giuli/ Michetti” [viii]. The Self-portrait under discussion here, which the autograph inscription above the head likens to the figure of Amonasro – a character in Verdi's Aida – shows the painter with his head swathed in a gaudy orange ochre kerchief dotted with lighter and more luminous touches and framed in a broad collar of striped white and sky blue fabric with a pale blue silhouette, in an attempt at disguise not uncommon for this artist. The question mark that Michetti adds after the name of the character whose appearance he is assuming, Amonasro?, reveals the playful side of the painter who, after gathering his thick, curly hair in a brightly coloured piece of cloth, looks at himself in surprise to discover that he resembles an exotic king of the ancient world: the Ethiopian king, Aida's father, who travels to Egypt where his daughter is held as a slave in order to urge her to seek vengeance; a king in disguise; a warrior whom fate has decreed should survive capture by the Egyptian army.

The character's intense and proud expression, in any event, sits perfectly with the royal dignity of Amonasro who, in inciting Aida to rebel against the Egyptians and forcing her to garner information on enemy troop movements from her beloved Radamès, conjures up in his aria the lost beauty of the "perfumed forests" and "cool valleys" of their native Ethiopia.           

 

- Monica Vinardi



[i] cfr. F. Benzi, G. Berardi, T. Sacchi Lodispoto, S. Spinazzè, Francesco Paolo Michetti. Catalogo generale, Cinisello Balsamo, Silvana Editoriale, 2018, n. 145, p. 164.

[ii] Ivi, n. 144, p. 164.

[iii] Ivi, ill. 2, p. 355.

[iv]  Ivi, n. 143, p. 163

[v]  Ivi, n. 142, p. 163.

[vi] Ivi, ill. 6, p. 356.

[vii] cfr. M. Miraglia, Francesco Paolo Michetti fotografo, Turin 1975.

[viii] Arte moderna e Contemporanea, Finarte – Semenzato Case d’Aste, catalogo vendita 16/12/2001, lotto n. 105, p. 105.

Previous
|
Next
22 
of  36
You may also like
  • ANTONIO CANOVA, Self-portrait of Giorgione
    ANTONIO CANOVA
    Self-portrait of Giorgione
  • PIETRO LABRUZZI, Portrait of Giacomo Giustini Holding a Plan of the Church of San Michele Arcangelo in Castel Madama
    PIETRO LABRUZZI
    Portrait of Giacomo Giustini Holding a Plan of the Church of San Michele Arcangelo in Castel Madama
  • VINCENZO GEMITO, Portrait of Mariano Fortuny, c. 1880
    VINCENZO GEMITO
    Portrait of Mariano Fortuny, c. 1880
  • AMLETO CATALDI, Portrait of a Young Man, 1920 c.
    AMLETO CATALDI
    Portrait of a Young Man, 1920 c.
  • ANDREA APPIANI, Portrait of a Young Hussar with Napoleon's Army (possibly a Portrait of Auguste-Louis Petiet), c.1800–1
    ANDREA APPIANI
    Portrait of a Young Hussar with Napoleon's Army (possibly a Portrait of Auguste-Louis Petiet), c.1800–1
  • CARL FRIEDRICH HEINRICH WERNER, Carnival in Rome
    CARL FRIEDRICH HEINRICH WERNER
    Carnival in Rome
  • GIOVANNI BOLDINI, Portrait of Mme. Lucie Gérard, c. 1890
    GIOVANNI BOLDINI
    Portrait of Mme. Lucie Gérard, c. 1890
  • French school, first decade of the 19th century, Portrait of violinist
    French school, first decade of the 19th century
    Portrait of violinist
  • LUIGI GALLINA, Portrait of Giovanni Segantini, ca. 1895
    LUIGI GALLINA
    Portrait of Giovanni Segantini, ca. 1895
  • Portrait of Harry Werner, 1899
    Portrait of Harry Werner, 1899
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2022 Antonacci Lapiccirella Fine Art
Site by Artlogic

Via Margutta 54, 00187 Rome

+39 0645433036  |  info@alfineart.com 

 

 

 

 

 

Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Youtube, opens in a new tab.
Join the mailing list
View on Google Maps

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Join the mailing list

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive all the news about exhibitions, fairs and new acquisitions!

Signup

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.