Detected Love Letter
Artist
Gaspare Traversi
(Italian, ca. 1722 – 1770)
Date1750s
CultureItalian
MediumOil on canvas
ClassificationPaintings
Provenance(By 1922, Achillito Chiesa, Milan.) John Ringling (1866–1936), Sarasota, Florida; bequest in 1936 to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN170
A young girl's amorous intrigue has been detected. Probably her younger brother, smiling in the background, was the one who revealed her secret. Her angry father threatens her with a strap while her mother reaches into the pocket of her dress. A torn pocket is a metaphor for lost virtue. Such bourgeois comic-dramas were invented in the 18th century. The realism of the subject and its direct depiction have parallels in contemporary theater, such as the plays of Carlo Goldoni, and stand in sharp contrast to the high-minded classicism of paintings such as Angelica's Kauffman's Sappho Inspired by Love.
On View
Not on viewImage: 34 1/2 x 42 3/4 in. (87.6 x 108.6 cm)
