PIETRO BAGATTI VALSECCHI

(1802-1864)

Portrait of Luigi Archinto after Palagi Pelagio (1775 - 1860)

1826

Signed and dated on the right: Bagatti 1826

Ceramic painting. round 5 cm.

Original frame in gilded metal and velvet 9,5 X 9,3 cm.

Beautiful portrait on ceramic signed and dated on the right: Bagatti 1826

The boy depicted, from a painting by Palagi Pelagio, is the young Luigi Archinto (1821-1899), the eldest son of Maria Cristina Trivulzio and Giuseppe Archinto and heir to two of the oldest and most important families in Milan.

It is possible to identify with certainty the identity of the child thanks to two paintings by Palagi Pelagio (1775 - 1860): Portrait of Luigi Archinto, 1824 and Portrait of Cristina Archinto Trivulzio with her son Luigi, 1824, Private collection.

Luigi was a painter, essayist and art critic and worked for numerous magazines. He was also a soldier and a patriot and he took part in the barricades during the Five Days of Milan.

A highly educated man, Luigi was also interested in archaeology, supporting excavations at Castelseprio on land owned by his family.

Pietro Bagatti Valsecchi was born in Milan on April 15, 1802, to Giuseppe Bagatti and Cristina Anelli; after his father's death in 1808, he was adopted in 1824 by Baron Lattanzio Valsecchi (1755-1836), his mother's second husband

He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Brera and completed his training in Paris and Geneva. He quickly became an important Italian miniature painter. Very versatile, he paints on different materials such as ivory, enamel, glass, metal and porcelain.

He participated in numerous art exhibitions: Milan, Venice, London and Paris, where he exhibited at the Salon des Beaux Arts in 1837 his works (enamels) entitled Maria Stuarda che sale al patibolo, La partenza di Cristoforo Colombo, La famiglia di Pietro Rossi opposes his departure for Venice, as well as the porcelain painting of Lo studio di Raffaello, achieving great success.

On March 4, 1842, he received the honors of the Austrian Empire and the emperor himself bought the porcelain painting entitled Raffaello e la Fornarina.

Around 1845, he paid tribute to Carlo Alberto of Savoy with the enamel Il riposo di Diana, inspired by a work by Pelagio Palagi.

In addition to his artistic activity, Bagatti Valsecchi held political and social positions, such as the post of municipal councilor of his native town from 1842 to 1856.

The family palace is today one of the most important Milanese museums. The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is a house-museum that brings together an extraordinary collection. An elegant neo-Renaissance style palace with a rich collection of 14th and 16th century works of art and artefacts.

Excellent state of conservation.

Prezzo: 2300 €

RELATED WORKS:

-Pietro Bagatti Valsecchi, Ritratto di fanciullo con ghirlanda di fiori, Milano, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (foto 5).

-Pelagio Palagi, Ritratto di Cristina Archinto Trivulzio con il figlio Luigi, 1824, collezione privata (foto 3).

-Pelagio Palagi, Ritratto di Luigi Archinto, olio su tavola, collezione privata (foto 4).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Capolavori in smalto e avorio. Pietro Bagatti Valsecchi e la miniatura d’aprés  a cura di Fernando Mazzocca e Sergio Rebora, Silvana Editoriale, Milano 2004;

Bénézit, Schidlof.

MUSEUMS:

Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.