Lot Essay
Executed with Bison’s characteristically spontaneous brushwork, these beautifully preserved panels (lots 203 and 204) are fine examples of the artist’s small-scale works. The theatrical-inspired composition as well as the medieval and renaissance costumes are typical of Bison’s work and early 19th Century Italian taste. Lot 203 can be compared to the Peasants and noblemen merrymaking, now in a private collection (see G. Bergamini et al., Giuseppe Bernardino Bison, pittore e disegnatore, Milano, 1997, p. 214, no. 32, illustrated). The paintings probably belong to the artist’s period in Milan, where he settled during the last years of his life. Having given up large commissions, Bison focused on smaller works for the distinguished Milanese clientele: idealized countrymen give way to realistic and humoristic city life scenes which appear to be influenced by the genre scenes of Giovanni Migliara.