DIPINTI
Estimate:
min €600- max €900
Starting Price:
€ 500
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Lot Description
SICILIAN SCHOOL (19th/20th centuries)
(Active in Palermo in the late 19th and early 20th centuries)
*The Serenade in a Rustic
Courtyard* Oil on canvas, 71 x 52
cm Signed and dated lower right:
‘F. Sala’. Da Vinea – Palermo 91
Fair condition, with patina
This 19th-century oil on canvas depicts a typical, lively genre scene set in a working-class neighbourhood, featuring a musician playing the lute or mandola, facing a young woman in traditional dress seated on a bench. The signature in the lower right-hand corner indicates that the work was executed in Palermo in 1891: “F. S. Da Vinea – Palermo 91”.
The work reflects the realistic and descriptive style of 19th-century Italian genre painting, which paid close attention to customs and rustic or working-class settings. The composition depicts a romantic courtship or a serenade taking place in a rustic interior or courtyard, enriched by details such as ceramic tableware, a large terracotta vase and a flask of wine.
The work fits perfectly within the tradition of nineteenth-century genre painting, characterised by the depiction of popular and anecdotal scenes imbued with romanticism, sentimentality and theatrical costumes. Painters from the Neapolitan school who were active in southern Italy (such as Palermo) were renowned on the national and international art markets for their ability to blend exquisite descriptive realism with a jovial, domestic and lyrical atmosphere. The painting demonstrates great technical skill in the rendering of the textures of the surfaces (lace, ceramics, terracotta and wood).
The work is in fair condition, consistent with the period in which it was painted. The painted surface retains a patina consistent with the painting’s age and preserves the artist’s characteristic thick, textured application of paint. The signature appears in the lower right-hand corner.
Overall, the painting constitutes a significant example of Sicilian genre painting from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and offers an evocative interpretation of the scene, achieved through a warm, luminous colour palette and free, vibrant brushwork.
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Auction Information
ASTA N.12 Importante collezione di dipinti antichi e del XIX-XX secolo of 29/10/2026 17:00.
Via dei Pastai 28
