“The reliable man”, directed by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, starring Giuseppe Giani

 

A few weeks ago we were in Volpedo, where we visited the perfectly preserved studio of Giuseppe Pellizza, a master of the Italian XIX century almost unknown to the rest of the world. During that trip we also discovered a charming place, that is the beautiful Pinacoteca of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Tortona – a 15 minutes driving from Volpedo.

 

Among the approximately 80 artworks preserved in this beautiful museum entirely dedicated to the Italian Divisionism, there is a corpus of works by Pellizza da Volpedo including “La processione”, “L’appeso” and “Il ritratto del mediatore Giuseppe Giani”. This latter has immediately captured our attention, also considering that since it was painted in 1891 this canvas has travelled out of Italy only once, in 1897, when it was part of an exhibition in Bruxells. Then it has been shown rarely, and never too far from the place where it was conceived.

 

Giuseppe Giani was a relative of Pellizza, and his son Pietro was one of Pellizza’s best friends. The portrait has been taken in the artist’s studio, as proved by the fireplace on the background. Giani is posing frontal, looking straight in the eyes of the viewer, dressed up in brown colors, similar tones to the color of the studio walls. The blue and red necktie strikes as being a hint of positivism, to be melt with the wisdom represented by the stick leaned on his left leg. While the burned out thin pipe in Giani’s mouth seems to be made of the same elegant matter of his necktie.

 

Giani’s hands have long fingers and clean nails. He sits up, with his warm overcoat and coat wide opened. He is the broker (mediatore) of the village. People ask his advise for selling or buying animals, lands, properties. He works with confidential information, a matter always difficult to deal with in a small community.

July 18, 2015