Lot 23: Giovanni Signorini (Florence 1808-1858) A Fête champêtre 27 3/4 x 21 3/4in (70.5 x 55cm)

Giovanni Signorini (Florence 1808-1858)
A Fête champêtre
signed and inscribed 'Giuseppe Signorini/ Roma Paris' (lower right)
oil on canvas
27 3/4 x 21 3/4in (70.5 x 55cm)
Footnotes

Provenance
Mr. and Mrs. S.A. Thompson, St. Louis, Missouri;
Acquired directly from the artist, 1925 for 50,000 Lira ($2,000);
By descent into the family.

Silvio Mazzoleni, Signorini's dealer in Rome, describes the present painting in a letter to Mrs. Thompson as one of the best the artist has ever painted. He continues 'The subject of this picture represents a private entertainment on the border of the Lake of Nemi, in the Alban Hills (Roma Country). The personages are represented seated on the lawn facing the Castle of the Princess Orsini - Costumes Louis XIV'.

The Thompsons were bankers to Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis and collectors of Italian art, particularly paintings by Signorini.