Giuseppe Mascarini, La campanella in dialogo con Attilio Andreoli, Regalo di nozze, con Giovanni Muzzioli, Note d’amore e con Giuseppe Mascarini, La pensierosa
The works on display here allow us to explore the various nuances of romantic love, from courtship to the bond between partners, between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In these four paintings, the female figure is the focus of a profound emotional journey that unfolds from initial illusion to the disillusionment of memory. On the right, the wall is dominated by the painting entitled La campanella by the Lombard artist Giuseppe Mascarini. The work, in the Symbolist style, depicts a young girl seated in an idealised landscape, framed by two climbing bluebells. Her face wears a serene and innocent smile, whilst in her hand she gently clutches a twig, a symbol of sincerity in love and strength of character. Mascarini uses soft, almost dreamlike tones, with full, compact brushstrokes, to convey the freshness and innocence of a budding emotion, sheltered by the purity of nature.
Next to it, the atmosphere becomes sharper and more worldly with Note d’amore by Giovanni Muzzioli. The work draws us into a sumptuous bourgeois interior where a ‘musical’ courtship is taking place. A young woman clutches a stringed instrument whilst shielding herself from her suitor’s close gaze with a knowing smile. The extraordinary clarity of the details – from the sheet music scattered on the floor to the vase of flowers in the background – enhances the freshness and theatrical vivacity of the seduction.
The climax of this romantic progression is reached with Regalo di nozze by Attilio Andreoli. A leading figure of the Lombard Scapigliatura movement, Andreoli crafts a composition set in sombre chromatic registers and warm tones, typical of the movement’s aesthetic. This density of shadow is suddenly softened and illuminated by the radiant smile of the protagonist in the foreground. The work alludes to the culmination of courtship, the union of marriage and the transition to a new dimension of shared life, celebrated by the intimacy of the two lovers. The gallery concludes by returning to Giuseppe Mascarini with one of his most lyrical paintings, La pensierosa, which introduces a melancholic note. The protagonist, with a dreamy demeanour, has her head bowed; in her left hand she holds a flower, a tangible memento of her beloved, but the luminous atmosphere of falling in love and courtship has faded. The woman’s pensive gaze seems to suggest the end of a romantic relationship, the moment of parting from her beloved, in which she is left alone with her thoughts, the guardian of a feeling transformed into a memory.