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Portrait of the singer Rosa Mariani

Museo Civico "Ala Ponzone"

Piccio in Cremona and Giovanni Beltrami

copy from: Giovanni Carnovali (1804/1873)

PICCIO

19th century

Painting

Carnovali was attracted by the world of music and opera, he was a great admirer of Maria Malibran and in Cremona he established a strong relationship with Rosa Mariani, a famous contralto.

The meeting took place in 1830, during his travel to Rome, when the network of the social relationships of the artist enlarged thanks to Malossi and Beltrami. This painting dates back to 1840 when the painter portrayed the Countess Anastasia Spini and the Count Pietro Andrea Spini.

The singer is not young and she is not wearing a stage costume. She is sitting among the rocks of a park and she is wearing a clear dress which resembles the color of the nature and landscape. The romantic style makes the painting more gentle, but it is still realistic in the particular of the face. The shadow around the eyes represents the singer’s aging but also her artistic success. Other elements remind the singer’s success: the music score, the Middle Ages helmet and the sward: references to the male roles, definitively her favorite ones.

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