Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi
Giovanni Boldini, 1886
Painted in pastel in 1886 in Boldini's Paris studio, this portrait shows Giuseppe Verdi from the waist up, looking straight out at the viewer. The composer wears his overcoat, a silk scarf knotted at the neck and a glossy top hat. According to the available accounts, the final sitting took place on 9 April 1886 and lasted only about five hours, after an earlier attempt in oil had satisfied neither the painter nor his subject. The friendship between the two men, mediated by Verdi's pupil Emanuele Muzio, helps explain the work's easy intimacy. Its strength lies in the face: clear eyes, a white beard drawn with fine black strokes and a calm, almost solemn stillness. Against the neutral background, the stiff lines of the scarf contrast with the soft forms of the figure, reinforcing his presence. It is often regarded as the best-known likeness of Verdi and one of the high points of his iconography, presenting a man of firm character and thoughtful gaze rather than a mythical monument.
- Painter
- Giovanni Boldini
- Date
- 1886
- Medium
- pastel, cardboard
- Dimensions
- 65 × 54 cm
- Museum
- Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Roma, Rome
- Genre
- portrait
- Depicts
- Giuseppe Verdi
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