MICHELE GORDIGIANI. Portrait of a Woman (Marianna Panciatichi, marchesa Paolucci delle Roncole, 1835-1919, or her sister-in-law, Beatrice Ferrari-Corbelli di Reggio, contessa di Lucciano)
Portrait of a Woman (Marianna Panciatichi, marchesa Paolucci delle Roncole, 1835-1919, or her sister-in-law, Beatrice Ferrari-Corbelli di Reggio, contessa di Lucciano)
Portrait of a Woman (Marianna Panciatichi, marchesa Paolucci delle Roncole, 1835-1919, or her sister-in-law, Beatrice Ferrari-Corbelli di Reggio, contessa di Lucciano). Artist: Michele Gordigiani (Italian, Florence 1835-1909 Florence). Dimensions: 25 3/16 x 20 1/2 in. (64 x 52 cm). Date: 1864.
Gordigiani was the premier portraitist of the Risorgimento, the period of modern Italian unification. This portrait, commissioned by marchese Ferdinando Panciatichi (1813-1897), scion of a distinguished Florentine family, depicts the patron's daughter or daughter-in-law. That it was one of a pair--the pendant is now unlocated--can be deduced from the original receipt for the exuberant gilt wood frame with silk velvet elements the painting still bears, a masterpiece of the intagliatore, or carver, Niccola Ricci (active 1848-1866). The frame's opulence is evocative of the years 1864-71, during which Florence served as King Vittorio Emanuele II's temporary capitol.