Carlotta Chabert, dancer of the first half of the nineteenth century, loved by Count Girolamo Malfatti, had the honor, thanks to the high-ranking client, of being portrayed by two of the greatest exponents of Italian painting of the time: Francesco Hayez and Pelagio Palagi.
Unlike Palagi, who declined the dancer in the form of Diana, Francesco Hayez wanted to associate her with the goddess Venus. The purists could not tolerate the sight of such a painting, considered desecrating towards the classical ideal of beauty: the proportions of the woman were not considered harmonious, since the lower part of the body was considered disproportionate to the upper, and her fare was deemed too busty.
The painter does not intend to seek the ideal beauty: in this desire to represent, even through the filter of mythology, a real, sensual and throbbing body on the canvas, lies the modernity of the great romantic artist. 1830, oil on canvas, Mart, Rovereto.
0 Comments