Attr. to Giovanni Migliara (Alessandria, 1785 - Milano, 1837)

Attr. to Giovanni Migliara (Alessandria, 1785 - Milano, 1837)

Church interior: the arrest of the nun from Monza

Oil on canvas, cm 79 x 61

With frame cm 104 x 85

The painting in question can be attributed by subject and definition to Giovanni Migliara (1785 - 1837), a painter from Alessandria. His training was particular and eclectic. Son of a cabinet-maker, he worked in the workshop of the sculptor Luigi Zuccoli in Milan between 1801-02. At the same time he attended the Brera Academy and from 1804 he also worked as a set designer at the studio of Gaspare Galliari. Some of his scenographic studies, held at the Pinacoteca di Alessandria or the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Turin, show influences from Galliari, heir to the Juvarrian tradition, to which he added picturesque features, with a neoclassical taste. In the same years he began to dedicate himself more and more to painting, creating small format works. In 1812 he presented at the Brera exhibition four views of Milan and two ideal compositions that were immediately a great success. His first production draws inspiration from the whims of 18th century Venetian taste. In 1813 he published a treatise on descriptive geometry. From 1815 he also became interested in the engraving technique, lithography and illustration. In 1817 he exhibited three works at the Paris Salon and presented to Brera, for the first time, a monastic interior, subject that will be very successful and will be repeated several times. Between the second and third decade of the nineteenth century, it was established in the cultural environment of romantic Milan, with a new genre constituted by the perspective representation of urban monuments and monumental interiors, small. Particularly appreciated painter refused in 1825 the chair of Brera, for too many commitments and in 1833 he was appointed painter of the king of Sardinia. The Migliara is a mixture of neoclassicism and romanticism. His taste, in fact, moderately neoclassical does not prevent him from anticipating romantic elements, creating in his works an original and particular genre of painting. These small paintings "to look at closely" guaranteed the artist from the beginning, the favor of critics and a cultured public who collected them as small precious objects, destined to furnish studios and cabinets. Migliara, in his works, liked to introduce some clues that would allow the public to identify the place represented, without renouncing the insertion of details of the imagination. Contributes to the return of the suggestion of the environment the refined luministic rendering of the painting, All played on the intense contrast between the large areas in shadow in the foreground and those affected by the sun rays that filter through the round openings of the dome and especially from the right bezel. The refined miniaturistic technique, the elegant luminism and the subject that distinguish the work are derived from the Flemish artistic tradition, mediated through more modern stylings. An interior of the Convent is kept at the Gallerie d'Italia in Milan while a view of the Certosa cloister is kept at the Museum of Santa Giulia in Brescia. The choice to represent a particular moment of action, the arrest of the nun of Monza, makes the canvas even more interesting. Marianna de Leyva (1575 - 1650), the nun of Monza, protagonist of a famous scandal at the beginning of the XVII century was made famous by the betrothed of Alessandro Manzoni. Orphaned mother was forced at the age of thirteen to enter the monastery of Santa Margherita monzese. Thanks also to the complicity of some nuns, following a clandestine relationship with Gian Paolo Osio, whose house overlooked the gardens of the monastery, she had two children. When a nun seemed intent on revealing the whole thing, Osio killed her, along with another witness. Cardinal Federico Borromeo, however, launched an investigation that led to the arrest of the nun and her confession. She was sentenced to live in a walled cell, not even four square meters. In 1622, after fourteen years spent thus, Cardinal Borromeo granted her forgiveness; she returned to the nun, and chose to stay with the Converts of Saint Valeria, in Milan, where she had spent her sentence. With Ars Antiqua it is possible to defer all amounts up to € 5,000 at ZERO RATE, for a total of 12 INSTALLMENTS. Ex. Tot. € 4.500 = monthly instalment € 375 for 12 months. Ex. Tot. € 3.600 = Monthly payment € 720 for 5 months. For amounts over €5,000 or for a longer delay in payment (over 12 instalments), we can provide a personalized payment. Contact us directly to get the best quote. Live TV - WEDNESDAY 21.00 - 24.00 Dig.terr. 126 - Sky 861 - 937 - SUNDAY 17.00 - 21.00 Dig.terr. 126 - Sky 861 - 937 - Streaming on our website www.arsantiquasrl.com and on our social networks Facebook and Youtube