Innocence And Temptation Bernardino Peretti (novara 1828 – 1889)

Innocence and Temptation
Bernardino Peretti (Novara 1828 – 1889)
Oil on canvas
Measurements: 73 x 91 cm
Excellent condition
Signed and dated lower right

The painting offers a highly evocative image of two naked children, still adolescents, about to experience their first temptations and sexual impulses. The scene leaves one unsure as to who the tempter is, between the boy with his index finger raised and the girl with an innocent yet seductive gaze. The reference to the image of Adam and Eve is clear, and the silhouette of the serpent, long a symbol of deception and temptation, could not be missed, half-hidden in the shadows. This is a splendid oil on canvas, signed and dated, by Bernardino Peretti, which effectively depicts a delicate and highly challenging subject. The elegant rendering of the children's naked bodies set in an extremely luminous landscape is extraordinary, and the detailed depiction of the thick vegetation backlit on the right side of the canvas is striking. The excellent state of preservation allows for a perfect reading of the painting.
Bernardino Peretti, a pupil of his father Lorenzo, supplemented his studies in Lyon, France, where he worked for several years as a successful portrait painter. Between 1867 and 1881, he exhibited portraits, genre paintings, and still lifes in Turin (1868), Paris (1873–1879), and Milan (1881).