Oil on canvas. Outside the fortifications of a city, a leader, surrounded by his soldiers, is about to light the cannon fuse. The army defends the citadel outside the walls, and the soldiers scan the horizon looking downwards: this suggests placing the scene on the fortifications of a city, particularly those of Genoa, which rise on the mountains behind and from which the Genoese defended from attacks from the sea; the location in Genoa is supported by the banner waving on the walls, the Cross of Saint George (red cross on a white field), the banner of the Republic of Genoa. The style of the armor, weapons and clothing would refer to the siege of Genoa in 1522. This is therefore the nineteenth-century representation of a historical episode, which therefore falls within that pictorial production widely spread in Italy in the 19th century, inspired by the new historical novel proposed by literature. On the back of the frame is the name G. Boni, together with a number that refers to participation in an official exhibition. Giovanni Boni was a student of the Brera Academy, in particular a follower of Giuseppe Sogni, an artist who was among the first to prefer painting historical subjects in their innovative romantic declensions. Not much is known about Boni, neither from a biographical point of view nor from his production. Of his certain attribution, only the Nudo d'uomo (Painted Academy) is known with which he won the first prize for the School of the Nude in Brera in 1852. The work effectively renders the figures and the pathos of the scene; the characters in the foreground are very well characterized in the poses, in the expressions, in the details of the clothes and weapons, while the other figures then fade into the background, suggesting the presence of a large army. The painting, still on its first canvas, has small widespread color losses. It is presented in a frame in style.
Product condition:
Product in good condition, shows small signs of wear.
Frame dimensions (cm):
Height: 98
Width: 125
Depth: 5
Artwork dimensions (cm):
Height: 112
Width: 85
ARAROT0116058
