Monday, June 16, 2014

Up Close: Boldini's Giuseppe Verdi

Fans of late nineteenth century painting who are planning a trip that includes Rome should try to find time to visit the Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna. It's on the grounds of the Villa Borghese, a park located a short ways northeast of the Spanish Steps area, which puts it slightly away from the main Rome tourist track. Also on the grounds is the more famous Galleria Borghese, which contains masterpiece paintings and -- especially -- sculptures by the likes of Bernini and Canova. The two museums are not close to one another, but the walk between them is not too far for most people. Once visited, the Moderna is a fairly short walk from the Piazza del Popolo that, in turn, leads to streets where Rome's fanciest shops are found.

One of the best-known works in the Arte Moderna is the 1888 pastel portrait of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) by Giovanni Boldini (1841-1931). Below are two photos I took of it on my last visit.

Gallery

Ritratto di Giuseppe Verdi - 1888
This is an image found on the Internet.

This is my photo showing the portrait and its frame.

A close-in photo I took. Click on the image to enlarge.

2 comments:

dearieme said...

I enjoyed your photo, especially its warmer colours. It is a wonderful portrait, isn't it?

Donald Pittenger said...

Dearieme -- I'm in Alaska this week with sketchy wifi, so sorry for the late reply. My colors differ from the example I posted, and I do not remember if my camera was picking up what I was seeing. I know that in some cases there was a color shift that might have been influenced by museum lighting. Of course, reproductions of the same painting can vary from art book to art book. I should have been taking notes on any color differences at the time, but didn't, of course.

Anyway, the warm version is nice, isn't it.