Attributed to Mosè Bianchi - The altar boys

The work 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. The theme of young priests or altar boys, depicted in curious genre scenes and amusing everyday situations, is quite common among painters between the 19th and 20th centuries (recall the famous cycles by Nino Caffè). Regarding the work in question, it should be noted that another work, with the same subject, entitled "The Return from the Festival," was created by Mosè Bianchi.

The artist who created this work is a figurative painter with a highly classical conception of painting, based on timeless principles of balance, harmony, and naturalism, characterized by a profound veristic undertone. The achievement of these characteristics is guaranteed by the fact that the artist of this painting can be considered a master of drawing and color. Through his confident line, the artist manages to create a coherent space, in which there is a tangible spatial depth, emphasized by the winding path. Color intervenes on this solid structure, making everything extremely alive and vibrant. First, the painter, through extremely subtle passages of tone, manages to create a coherent and unified atmosphere in which the figures blend naturally. Furthermore, his stroke is extremely mobile and rapid, capable of ensuring immediacy and freshness to the composition. Finally, the palette used completes the quest for a perfect naturalistic and veristic rendering, thanks to bright and luminous hues.

The work bears the signature of Mosè Bianchi (Monza 1840-1904). He studied at the Induno brothers' school and developed a taste for narrative compositions depicted with great naturalism. His work (with works such as A Choral Singing Lesson, The Eve of the Festival, The Clearing of the Altar, Cleopatra, and The Lady of Monza) falls squarely within the Romantic cultural sphere of the melodramatic genre of pseudo-historical and realist painting. Moreover, Mosè Bianchi is part of a group of painters who, towards the end of the 19th century, devoted themselves to didactic themes, but did so with a profound pictorial research, updated with the innovations of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.

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