BY BARTOLOMEO PINELLI (1781-1835), 1831

At the start of the 19th century Pinelli belonged to a school of innovative Italian artists who chose to portray rustic and everyday scenes of life in small-scale statuary. Pinelli, in direct contrast to his contemporary Antonio Canova, sold his works in Roman cafés to tourists, while Canova received commissions from Napoleon, Washington and Ferdinand IV of Naples. The present lot is typical of Pinellis in that it rejects the mainstream neoclassical tradition and focusses instead on naturalism and the representation of his fellow Romans.