(Venice 1791–1881 Milan)
Portrait of Elisabetha Bassi Charlé, signed Hayez, oil on canvas, 71 x 64 cm, framed, (GG)

Please note that the present painting will not be exhibited in Vienna. It has been declared national patrimony by the Italian Ministry for Heritage and cultural Activities and must therefore remain in Italy. Even after it has been purchased it may not be exported out of Italy.

Provenance:
European private collection

Catalogued in:
G. Mongeri, catalogue for the exhibition “Esposizione retrospettiva di alcune opere del Professore di pittura Francesco Hayez”, Milan 1883, p. 36;
Francesco Hayez, Le mie memorie, G. Carotti, Milan 1890, p. 276;
S. Coradeschi, L’opera completa di Hayez, Rizzoli Editore, Milan 1971, no. 70, p. 96 (incorrectly catalogued as “Vicenza Scaccia, the artist’s wife”);
M. C. Gozzoli, F. Mazzocca, Hayez, catalogo della mostra, Milan 1983, p. 353–354;
Fernando Mozzocca, Francesco Hayez, Catalogo ragionato, Milan 1994, no. 128, p. 191.

Exhibited:
Esposizione retrospettiva di alcune opere del defunto Professore di pittura Francesco Hayez, Palazzo di Brera, September 1883;
Dipinti di Francesco Hayez, Cremona, Castello Sforzesco, 1934;
Il Piccio, un pittore romantico nell’Europa dell’Ottocento, Cremona, Centro Culturale Santa Maria Pietà, 24. february–10. june 2007;
Da Canova a Modigliani, il volto dell’Ottocento, Padua, Palazzo Zabarella, 2. october 2010–27. february 2011, no. 25.

The present lot is an important rediscovery which reappeared at the Giovanni Carnovali detto il Piccio exhibition held in 2007 in Cremona. The painting was last exhibited at the Castello Sforzesco in Cremona in 1934 before disappearing for over 70 years. Probably painted in 1829 and with remarkable and exquisite attention to detail, Elisabetha Bassi Charlé is portrayed in a confident pose looking directly at the viewer. The sitter’s character is superbly rendered. The sitter is perfectly placed in the center of the composition, with contrasting light and dark surroundings. Her elaborate bonnet clearly identifies her as a member of the wealthy bourgeoisie. The artist depicts the details of her costume with its splendid texture and colour, ranging from black to a rich red. Her bonnet is elaborately decorated with a fine embroidery pattern, lace, and white and transparent tulle.
She looks proudly at the viewer and determinedly displays the portrait of a man who could be her late husband. Hayez brilliantly presents us with a portrait within a portrait. It could be either a drawing or a lithography, the new printing method. The artist began successfully experimenting this new medium himself during the late 1820s. The painting is not signed in a traditional manner, but rather on the sheet of paper underneath the second portrait.