Linda of Chamonix, Scene from an Opera
(18th and 19th Centuries )
In this scene from "Linda di Chamounix," an opera by Gaetano Donizetti with libretto by Gaetano Rossi, Carlo, the nobleman, disguised as a painter, has returned to the village of Chamonix to find Linda crazed with grief at the thought of being abandoned by him. Here, in Act II, he restores her sanity by singing "Hear the voice that softly singing..."
Carlo, suitably attired in Bohemian garb, carries a hurdy-gurdy strapped over his shoulder. His love, seated on a rock, is in the process of emerging from her madness. In the background is an Alpine peak, perhaps Mont Blanc.
The opera, set in Paris and in Chamonix, a village in Upper Savoy, was first performed in Vienna on May 19, 1842.
The small size of this painting suggests that it is a replica of the "Linda di Chamounix," that was listed by Thieme-Becker in "Allegemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler," 11: 455, as having been exhibited in Florence in 1861.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Italy (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 13 3/8 x W: 9 13/16 in. (34 x 24.9 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1758