Cupids Carrying the Themes of the Picture

Gino Severini (Italian, 1883–1966)

1929

Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas

Dimensions116.5 x 89.3 cm (45 7/8 x 35 3/16 in.)

Credit LineTompkins Collection—Arthur Gordon Tompkins Fund

Accession numberRES.32.16

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsPaintings

Collections

Europe

Description

Severini’s work of the 1920s reflects his fascination with motifs from Italian history and art. Grouped here are architectural ruins from classical antiquity; a mask evoking both Bacchus, ancient god of wine, and traditional comedia del l’arte theatre; and musical instruments recalling the seventeenth-century Italian still lifes of Evaristo Baschenis. The arrangement is surmounted by cupids carrying still-life objects before a backdrop that surprisingly reverses sky and wall.

Provenance1931, Léonce Rosenberg (b. 1877 - d. 1947), Paris; May 16, 1931, sold by Rosenberg to the MFA for $10,050 [see note 1]. (Accession Date: February 4, 1932)

NOTES:
[1] MFA accession numbers RES.32.2-RES.32.18 purchased together for $10,050.