A Seated Man Playing a Guitar Gm-25599101

Pietro Antonio Novelli (Italian, 1729–1804) A well-dressed young man serenades his beloved outside her window. With his feathered cap and the abundant folds of his cape flowing to the ground, the guitarist makes a striking visual statement against a plain backdrop. His body faces the lover's window, but he turns his head toward the viewer granting access to his confident, comfortable gaze.

The object of his musical affection is not shown. But in the lower margin, an inscription in Venetian dialect narrates the man's actions. Loosely translated it reads: To relieve the beloved of her longing, he sings while scratching the guitar. The work's inscription seems innocent enough, but the words smara and chittara had rather vulgar meanings in Venetian slang of the period. The phallic guitar reinforces these salacious undertones. That the entire scene is placed within a lined border suggests that the drawing served as a design for a print and was perhaps part of a series of engravings illustrating bawdy Venetian sayings.

High Quality Wood Framed Print using museum quality paper and archival inks with a white border or with cut mat for a contemporary look. Comes with Acrylite glazing and hanging hardware. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

Stretched Canvas is stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed on heavy cotton poly matte finish canvas. Comes with mounting brackets. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

Giclee Prints are printed on 260gsm satin finish using the finest archival inks. Each print carries a white border around the perimeter. The listed size refers to the overall paper dimensions. The image is printed proportionally within this paper size and includes a small white border. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

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Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea.