Italian Brigand In His Refuge With Jewel Casket, Signed Pauwels, C.1850

Italian Brigand in His Refuge with Jewel Casket, Signed Pauwels, c.1850

Unframed dimensions: 68 x 52.5 cm

Framed dimensions: 90 x 77 cm

Oil on canvas laid on wooden panel

The signature Pauwels is visible on the stone ledge together with a date, readable as 1850 or 185?.

Ferdinand Wilhelm Pauwels (Ekeren, 1830 – Dresden, 1904), a Belgian painter trained at the Antwerp Academy, won the Prix de Rome in 1852 and stayed in Italy for four years. This experience brought him close to the romantic and colorful image of popular Italy in the mid-19th century.

The painting depicts an Italian brigand inside his refuge, beside an open casket filled with jewels and a red drapery. The outlaw holds a long rifle and looks outward, as if interrupted in the silence of his hideout.

The costume is one of the most interesting aspects of the work: a conical brigand’s hat, a farsetto — a short fitted jacket of popular tradition — a red and green sash tied at the waist, knee-length breeches, and high gaiters. The ensemble recalls the 19th-century image of brigands from central and southern Italy, between the Roman countryside, Apennine regions, and former Bourbon territories, without pointing to a precise regional origin.

The open casket, jewels, and red cloth introduce the theme of stolen loot, highly appreciated in European Romantic painting. During the 19th century, the Italian brigand became an almost legendary figure: armed, unruly, proud, and linked in the foreign imagination to an Italy of costumes, danger, vivid color, and strong popular character.

Good overall condition. Gilt wooden frame of fine decorative presence.