LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

42.91 in. (109.00 cm.) (height) by 36.02 in. (91.50 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed P. ro Luchini

Condition:

framed

Provenance:

Private Collection, Italy., Pietro Luchini trained at the Accademia di Carrara in Bergamo under Giuseppe Diotti (1779-1846). He moved to Rome in 1820. He travelled to Paris and London in 1832 and eventually journeyed to Constantinople in the 1850s, where he settled for a decade. Little is known about the artist except that he painted quite a few portraits such as the present lot. , The sitter is depicted in the “Grand Champ des Morts” cemetery in Pera. Dating back to the sixteenth century, the “Grand Champ des Morts” was unique among Istanbul’s necropolises, with burial grounds for followers of both Islam and Christianity. Beginning at Taksim, it extended down the slope to the Ayazpaşa quarter. It was renowned for its natural beauty and cypresses until it was abandoned in the second half of the 19th century. , The present lot depicts a female European mourner visiting the cemetery. Both Muslim and Christian families made regular visits to their respective burial grounds to maintain the link with the generation which had preceded them. The “Grand Champ des Morts” was not only a place for commemoration but also the site of lively festivals, celebrations and social activities.