Felice Melis Marini - The Donkey

The painting can be defined as a genre scene, that is, the depiction of an episode of everyday life that, apparently, lacks any significant element. These types of domestic subjects were long considered minor and only began to spread in Western art starting in the 17th century. Only with the development of 19th-century realism did everyday subjects become considered as important as historical or religious ones.

A master of graphic and engraving techniques, artist Felice Melis Marini displays remarkable drawing technique. Scenes are inserted within a coherent spatial framework, and the artist's skill in capturing even the smallest details in a lively, dynamic narrative is remarkable. The final result is a composition of refined, miniature precision that leverages an extraordinary hatching technique. The rapidity of the strokes ensures a fresh execution while simultaneously distributing the shadows and lights that define the space.

Felice Melis Marini (Cagliari, 1871 – 1953). At a very young age, he moved to Rome to study at the Scuola Libera del Nudo. In Rome, he began studying etching, largely thanks to his frequent visits to the Regia Calcografia. Etching would become his signature technique and, above all, his primary focus of artistic research. In 1916, he published the technical volume L'acquaforte (Etching) with Hoepli, which brought him to the forefront. Meanwhile, the artist continued to produce narrative and poetic etchings, mostly dedicated to Sardinian tradition. He participated in numerous Italian exhibitions, such as the Mostra d'Arte Sarda (Sardinian Art Exhibition) in Cagliari in 1921 and the Turin Quadriennale in 1923. The collection Sardinia. Reproductions of Etchings by Felice Melis Marini was published in 1939. Between the 1940s and 1950s he held several solo exhibitions at the Palladino Gallery in Cagliari, where he died, aged eighty-two, in 1953.

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