Ettore Forti

Ettore Forti (19th-20th century), "Pompeii", second half of the 19th century. Oil on canvas, 60 x 100 cm Signed "Forti" lower right. The painting depicts a genre scene within the city of Pompeii as reimagined by the artist. Placed at the center of the work, a chariot, driven by a dark-haired charioteer, winks cockily at two women to his left. The two figures shield themselves from the sun with a rather oriental-looking parasol: the young woman on the left, of African descent and dressed in dark and gold clothes, accompanies the young Roman woman to her left, recognizable by the typical hairstyle of curls falling on her forehead. In the shade of the porticoes composed of imposing Doric columns, two women exchange some gossip; one of them carries a heavy wicker basket under her arm, containing a fruit that looks very much like oranges. Curiously, this citrus fruit would not arrive on European tables until the 15th century, imported into the peninsula by the Arabs. On the left, a street vendor tries to sell roses to a group of men; among them an old man, dressed in a white toga, clothing reserved purely for male Roman citizens. On his head he wears a purple ribbon: Forti's objective was in fact to represent an officer of some public office; also in this case it is a nice historical inaccuracy. The scene is dominated by an important triumphal arch, on the top of which is placed a sculptural group depicting a quadriga led by a victorious deity; immediately behind it, two maritime pines and an obelisk, perhaps imported from the Provinces, peep out. In the distance, half-hidden by a dense haze, Vesuvius, from which a white column of smoke emerges.