Circle of Natale Schiavoni (Chioggia, 1777 – Venice, 1858), The letter

Circle of Natale Schiavoni (Chioggia, 1777 – Venice, 1858)

The letter

Oil on copper, 48 x 38 cm

With frame, 67,5 x 59 cm

Natale Schiavoni (Chioggia, 25 April 1777 – Venice, 16 April 1858) was an Italian painter and engraver, best known for his portraits and genre scenes characterised by delicate sensuality and elegant execution. Born into a family of artists – his father Felice was a painter –, Schiavoni initially trained in his father's workshop. His precocious artistic inclination soon took him to Venice, where he had the opportunity to study and come into contact with the artistic environment of the lagoon city. His career developed through different phases and influences. Initially linked to the Venetian pictorial tradition of the eighteenth century, with a particular attention to colour and light, Schiavoni was able to evolve his style, incorporating elements of neoclassicism and romanticism. He became particularly appreciated for his portraits, in which he was able to sensitively capture the personality and elegance of the subjects, often members of the high society of his time. His female figures are characterized by an idealized beauty and an aura of refined melancholy. In addition to portraits, Schiavoni also devoted himself to genre painting, creating intimate and graceful scenes, often with female figures in languid poses or in idealized everyday contexts. His skill in drawing and his attention to detail contributed to making these works particularly pleasant and refined. Schiavoni traveled often in his career, staying in Trieste and Milan, where he worked as a portraitist and met important personalities of the cultural and aristocratic world. These trips broadened his artistic horizons and influenced his production. Returning to Venice, he continued his painting activity successfully until his death in 1858. His work remains a testimony to a period of transition in the Italian artistic panorama, in which the Venetian tradition opened up to new sensibilities and influences.

In this painting of a member of his circle, the ideal of feminine beauty promoted by Schiavoni throughout his production is resumed. The iconography of the girl reading the letter, with possible Risorgimento implications, is also taken from the activity of the artist originally from Chioggia. From Schiavoni, the author of this painting takes the softness of the brush stroke, the luminosity of the flesh tones, the sense of intimacy and melancholy of the scene, the elegance and attention in the rendering of the clothes and accessories and the suffused atmosphere, which gives the painting an almost dreamlike and oneiric allure.