Antonio Mancini (rome, 1852 – 1930), *ciociara – Black Eyes* (1883)

Antonio Mancini (Rome 1852 – 1930), Ciociara – Black Eyes (1883)

Oil on canvas, 38 x 27 cm, signed lower right; on the reverse is a label from Galleria Borghi & Co. Fine Art Dealers, New York.

Provenance: Marco Innocenti Collection, Milan; Borghi & Co., New York; Gilgore Collection, Naples, Florida.

Exhibitions: Galleria Geri, Milan, 1942; *A Chisel and a Brush: Vincent Gemito, 1852–1929, Antonio Mancini, 1852–1930: From the Gilgore Collection, Italian Art, 1850–1925*, Naples, Florida, 2000.

Bibliography: *Eterno Femminino 800*, edited by Enrico Piceni, Milan 1942, reproduced; A Chisel and a Brush: Vincent Gemito, 1852–1929, Antonio Mancini, 1852–1930: From the Gilgore Collection, Italian Art, 1850–1925, Naples, Florida 2000, no. 25, pp. 84 and 85; Antonio Mancini, Catalog Raisonné, vol. 1, edited by Cinzia Virno, Rome 2019, no. 309, p. 231.

This is one of Mancini’s earliest Roman paintings, although its composition is reminiscent of his Neapolitan street urchin paintings from the 1870s.