Description:
death/mourning; man; furniture; religion - Christian
Label Text:
This painting is a deathbed portrait of Gioacchino Rossini, the famous Italian composer of 39 operas, including the Barber of Seville and William Tell, as well as sacred and chamber music. Gustave Doré was a friend of Rossini and his second wife, Olympe, and attended their weekend receptions. Doré often entertained at these samedi soirs, and was said to have a beautiful baritone voice. After Rossini died in his suburban villa at Passy on November 13, 1868, Doré sketched the composer the next morning as he lay propped against pillows. An engraving was later made, and two portraits were painted, the one owned by the Smith College Museum of Art and the other by the Fondazione Gioacchino Rossini in Pesaro, the composer’s birthplace. The paintings both show the composer with a large crucifix placed on his body above the bedclothes, but the Museum’s painting shows Rossini from his right, and the Pesaro painting shows him from the left. The Museum’s portrait is surrounded by an elaborate frame, reminiscent of a daguerreotype encasement.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1954.43 |
