Francesco Gonin (Turin, 16 December 1808 – Giaveno, 14 September 1889), attr., Pietro Rossi is invited to take command of the Venetian army to fight against the Scaligeri

Francesco Gonin (Turin, 16 December 1808 – Giaveno, 14 September 1889), attr.

Pietro Rossi is invited to take command of the Venetian army to fight against the Scaligeri

oil on canvas, 50 x 64 cm – with frame, 66 x 81 cm

The painting depicts the moment when Pietro Rossi, Lord of Parma, receives the invitation from the Republic of Venice to lead the Venetian army against the Scaligeri, while he is still engaged in the defense of Pontremoli, under siege by Veronese troops. The scene, set in an austere architectural interior punctuated by arches and a checkered floor, revolves around the gesture of a messenger who restrains the soldier and indicates the exit from the palace, while the female figures of his family, wives and daughters, crowd around the leader, their expressions pleading, attempting to restrain him from leaving. The contrast between the call of public duty and private affections is conveyed through the intense faces of the figures, illuminated by a warm light that accentuates their pathos, and through the vivid antique costumes, reminiscent of the theatrical and literary fashions of the time. The episode, taken from the fourteenth-century chronicle recounted by Sismondi in his History of the Italian Republics of the Middle Ages and, more specifically, from Laugier's Histoire de la République de Venise, became a very popular subject in Risorgimento painting, which recognized in it the exaltation of individual sacrifice for the collective cause and the emphasis placed on family feelings as a mirror of civic virtues.

The attribution to Francesco Gonin is confirmed by a series of stylistic similarities found in his other works. The rendering of the faces, particularly the pathetic intensity of the gazes and the soft chiaroscuro of the features, closely recalls Paolo and Francesca, now in a private collection, which shares the same ability to condense the characters' internal conflict into a single expression. Gertrude Decides to Become a Nun, also in a private collection, shares with our painting the attention to theatrical gesture and the pyramidal composition of the figures, as well as a similar use of white drapery to isolate and highlight the central female figure. The same patriotic tone is found in the Heroic Death of the Carabiniere on Mount Giovanni Battista Scapaccino, with the celebration of a recent historical episode interpreted as heroic sacrifice, using a figurative language similar to that employed in Pietro Rossi. Finally, the room with the personifications of the elements in the Porta Nuova station in Turin testifies to the solidity of the architectural rendering and the mastery of perspective of the spaces, qualities that are also recognized in the scenographic layout of the painting in question.

Francesco Gonin trained at the Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Turin, now the Accademia Albertina, between 1820 and 1828, a student of Lorenzo Pécheux and Giovanni Battista Biscarra. He specialized in historical portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes, combining his painting with literary illustration. He collaborated with the workshop of Rodolfo Morgari, a painter and restorer of the Royal Palaces, and around 1830 he befriended Massimo d'Azeglio, for whom he redesigned the illustrations for Ettore Fieramosca in 1833. A stay in Milan in 1835 brought him into contact with Alessandro Manzoni, who entrusted him with the illustrations for The Betrothed, published in installments between 1839 and 1842. Numerous of his portraits and frescoes adorn the Savoy residences, including Racconigi Castle and the Royal Palace in Turin, as well as several city churches and the Porta Nuova station. Through this production, Gonin firmly placed himself within the tradition of Italian Risorgimento painting, capable of combining historical rigor with a romantic sensitivity to affection and patriotic values, thus helping to disseminate, through images and illustrations, a shared imagery of the nascent national identity.

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