Portrait of a Young Girl
This delicate portrait was painted on a palette, as was the custom at the time for artists to offer as an affectionate tribute. The girl seems to be the same brunette model who appears in studies for the Praying Angel in the Pollini chapel in the Misericordia cemetery in Siena.
Palette with Landscapes
Dedicated “to my dear friend G. Romani,” the palette pays tribute to Galileo Romani, born in Scansano in 1841, the son of the architect Alessandro. It shows images of landscapes and flags that seem to indicate Italy (the snow-capped Alps, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Italian flag), France (a wide navigable
Study of a Male Nude
During the course of study at art school, after copying prints and plaster casts, the student came to the much more difficult task of working from a live model. Between 11 July and 8 August 1873, at the Istituto di Belle Arti in Siena, the annual competition of the Academy
Study of a Male Nude in a “Heroic” Pose
The nude model is positioned in a “heroic” pose, like a classical statue of a fighter, which contrasts with his slender body and flowing beard, openly modern characteristics. Academic exercises on the nude were a normal part of the entire course of an artist’s training, and only the style of
Agamemnon Condemning Iphigenia to be Sacrificed
An early work by Aldi, this was done while he was still a student at the Istituto di Belle Arti in Siena. The subject is taken from Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripedes and is connected with the Trojan War: the Greek ships had been blocked on the coast of Boeotia
Nero Watching Rome Burn (bozzetto)
Pietro Aldi had already made a painting of this same subject in 1886, bought by a foreigner, but he returned to it some time later to make a large canvas to send to the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1889. The work was left unfinished because of the artist’s death
The Triumph of Judith (bozzetto)
The large painting of Judith Showing the Severed Head of Holofernes to the People of Bethulia was commissioned by Aldi by the Dames of the Sacred Heart of Trinità dei Monti as a gift for Pope Leo XIII on the anniversary of his ordination and is still in the collection
Portrait of a Man
This model was used by Aldi to portray Michelangelo in the painting presented at the Turin Exposition of 1884, in which the great artist, while painting a Sibyl on the Sistine ceiling, interrupts his work and climbs down a ladder to see the overall effect before finishing the fresco. The
Portrait of Leonardo Coretti
Leonardo Coretti was a fellow townsman of Aldi, renowned for his faithful adherence to the Gospel teachings, which inspired his charitable, modest conduct. The spiritual aspect of his face and his well-known religious faith made him the ideal model for the older Hebrews celebrating Judith’s triumph in the painting made
Portrait of an African Woman
This portrait, notable for its chromatic and psychological intensity, can be dated in the 1880s, in connection with Aldi’s studies for the painting The Triumph of Judith. In the Bible story, Judith’s servant is an African woman, who was at her side when she presented Holofernes’s head to the people,
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