ANTONIO VARNI

(Genoa 1840/41 - 1908)

Artist's Palette with The Lighting of the Lamps on the Lagoon

Inscribed 'Rifugium Pecatorum'

Oil on panel (artist's palette)

35.5 x 42 cm. (14 x 16 1/2 in.)


Provenance

Private collection

It has been possible to identify the present work as being by the hand of Antonio Varni, a Genoese painter. Born in 1841, he travelled to Florence in 1862 to train, having been awarded the competition for the Penzione Durazzo. Varni studied under both Antonio Ciseri and Enrico Pollastrini and developed his own distinct style, often portraying dream-like scenes of everyday life. The present work is no exception, showing two figures lighting a shrine to the Madonna on the Lagoon. Such shrines were used to guide sailors and acted as lighthouses, hence the use of the phrase ‘Refugium Peccatorum’. There are other known depictions of this action taking place, including one by Hermann David Salomon Corrodi (1844-1905) in the Royal Collection.

Other palettes by Varni have allowed for the attribution of this palette to be confirmed. He consistently uses the same gradients of paint on the recto of the palette. This borders one side of various scenes, which in other examples have included 'On the Sea Shore' and 'A Joke'. Given the dates of the other palettes that have come onto the market by Varni, it is possible to date the present work to the first years of the twentieth century. It is likely that Varni painted these as souvenirs, to be made and sold in mass.