Italian Painter (19th Century) - Satirical Allegory Of The Papacy And Austrian Empire.

Italian painter (19th century) - Satirical allegory of the papacy and Austrian empire.

28.5 x 24 cm without frame, 32 x 26.5 with frame.

Oil on panel, in gilded wooden frame.

Condition report: Good state of conservation of the pictorial surface.

- This small painting from our collection, which at first glance appears to be a harmless humorous parody, actually symbolizes historical events that really happened. Let's try to read the scene: the lit fireplace, the dead cockerel and the details of the scattered objects give a feeling of disorder and/or social criticism. The cat with the headdress that resembles the papal mitre is an obvious reference to the Catholic Church. The monkey wears the helmet typical of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The woman with the “INTENT” halo could represent the human will to control the events that are happening, watching over them, not only morally, but also with the intent, if necessary, to intervene directly (this could be the meaning of the stick that the woman is holding in her hand). The facts, we were saying: the facts are historical and probably refer to the repression of the national liberation movements within the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the mid-1800s of Bohemia, Slovenia and Croatia. At this juncture, the local Catholic hierarchy supported the imperial authorities, condemning and hindering the claims of autonomy and independence of these peoples. This happened with the almost total indifference of the Church of Rome, which had strong political and commercial interests in the area and did not want to offend the emperor's susceptibilities. In truth, some voices had been raised in the Papal State, but were immediately silenced from above. History tells us, therefore, that the Church gave a big hand to the Empire and the cat that takes the chestnuts out of the fire testifies to this in our painting. The Church, therefore, connived with the abuses of the Empire that suffocated in blood (the slaughtered rooster), the revolutionary movements of the time, failing to comply with the charter on human rights drawn up in Paris, in 1789, during the French Revolution. This is precisely the last document that we find in our painting: the treaty on human rights, written in French, which we find right here on the ground, torn up. In addition to the cat, cunning, the monkey, inefficiency and corruption, the allegorical figure of the woman (Europe?) who threatens to intervene with her stick, but who never does, remains strongly dominant in the painting.


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* Message addressed to non-Italian buyers:
Please keep in mind that this work has not yet obtained the certificate of free export from Italy from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. This document certifies that the work is not part of the Italian cultural heritage. Normally the times for issuing certificates are 40 days from the date of the appointment: The new legislation in force from 2021 provides for shorter times at the discretion of the expert commission for declared amounts of less than € 13,500. All costs of this operation are included.