(Atzgersdorf 1832–1889 Vienna) Portrait of a Girl with a Moon Tiara, signed, inscribed A. Romako, a Roma, oil on canvas, 43 x 35 cm, framed, (Rei)

Letter of authentication issued by Dr. Cornelia Reiter, dated January 2013 available.

From the letter of authentication by Dr. Cornelia Reiter: (…)
Romako’s child portraits take on both a qualitative and quantitative importance in his artistic oeuvre. They also stand out amongst Romako’s works for the depth and complexity in which the content is interpreted.(…) According to the signature, this portrait of a girl, the brilliance of its execution and its multilayered interpretation rendering it a typical example of Romako’s genre, was executed during his sojourn in Rome. With the moon-shaped tiara and the ghostly background, Romako here again alludes to the Roman Diana or Greek Artemis, ancient goddess of the moon and the night. According to ancient mythology, Diana/Artemis was a protector of women and girls and this mythical reference appears to be the inspiration behind the motif. The name Diana is related to the Latin dius (“daylight”, “charged with the brightness of day“), which Romako appears to interpret in the form of the ghostly background. The highlights in the obscure background are masterly, as is the drapery which partially covers the young girl’s upper body, evoking that ambiguity and indeterminacy of the surroundings which determines the mood in Romako’s paintings. The garment, reminiscent of the Greek chiton and of which only fragments are visible, also accords with the antique – mythical context which is reflected in this portrait on several levels. The dark haired girl, portrayed as a young Diana, looks away to one side, questioningly, presenting her in a most un-childlike solemnity; this too is characteristic of many of Romako’s profound child portraits. Attempts have frequently been made to identify the figures in the numerous portraits of girls with Romako’s own children; however, as the portrait features are very general, displaying very few characteristic traits, unequivocal attribution is not possible. Judging by later portraits of his daughter Luise (cf. Monograph Romako 2010, CR 341), this could possibly be an encrypted portrait of Romako’s oldest daughter, born in 1864, with whom, sources say, he later enjoyed a close personal relationship. However, the date of execution, according to the estimated age of the girl around 1869/70, does not correspond with the style of the painting. If this was a portrait of one of his daughters, then it is likely to be one of Romako’s younger daughters, Julie, born 1867, Matilda, born 1869, or Marie, born 1871, of whom, however, almost no definite portraits exist (cf. Monograph Romako 2010, CR 878, supposed portrait of Romako’s daughter Mathilde, currently Viennese private property, which is very similar in type to this portrait). In terms of subject matter and execution, this portrait of a girl is most similar to the portrait Mädchen mit Ährenkrause (Girl with Spiked Collar) and the Engelskopf verbrämte Mädchenbildnis (head of a girl dressed as an angel), (monograph Romako 2010, CR 333, 334); according to present knowledge, both works were probably executed around 1873/74 and it is not been possible to clearly identify either as concrete portraits.