(Bologna 1882–1945)
The Treasure Chest (Allo scrigno), signed A. Protti, oil on canvas, 78.5 x 59.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private Collection, Italy.

Exhibited:
Bologna, Museo Civico, Mostra retrospettiva di Alfredo Protti, curated by Accademia Clementina and Associazione Francesco Francia, 4 June-16 July 1950, no. 26;
Bologna Museo Civico, Mostra retrospettiva di Alfredo Protti, 17 September- 24 October 1971, no. 77;
Bologna, Bottegantica, Maestri dell’Ottocento italiano, March-April 1992, no. 50; Bologna, Palazzo d’Accursio, Associazione Bologna per le Arti, Alfredo Protti 1882-1949, 19 December 2012 - 4 February 2013, no. 44;
Bologna, Associazione Bologna per le Arti, da Bertelli a Guidi, 8 December 2019 - 16 February 2020.

Illustrated:
Exhibition catalogue, Mostra retrospettiva di Alfredo Protti curated by Accademia Clementina and Associazione Francesco Francia, 1950, no. 26;
Exhibition catalogue, Franco Solmi, Mostra retrospettiva di Alfredo Protti, Bologna 1971, no. 77;
Raffaele Da Grada, Società per le Belle Arti ed esposizione permanente, Alfredo Protti 1882–1949: mostra antologica, 1991, p. 125;
Vittorio Sgarbi, Alfredo Protti, Giorgio Mondadori, Milan 1997, p. 57;
Exhibition catalogue, Associazione Bologna per le arti, Alfredo Protti 1882-1949, Grafiche dell‘Artiere 2012, p. 44, no. 76.

Alfredo Protti is one of the best-known and best-loved painters of 20th-century Bologna. His European-style painting contributed to the development of Bologna's modern identity. His favourite subjects were women in middle-class houses and the intimacy of domestic life.

These figures, elegant, indolent, and sometimes melancholic, convey a new image of womanhood, which is not at all idealised, but instead absolutely exemplified.