MATTEINI, Teodoro
(b. 1754, Pistoia, d. 1831, Venezia)

Girl with Letter

1797
Oil on canvas, 59 x 47 cm
Museo d'Arte Moderna, Ca' Pesaro, Venice

The painting belongs to the sentimental style of portraiture at which Matteini excelled. The girl's graceful pose, her gentle expression, the sobriety of the composition, and the relationship of the figure to the landscape evoke the sophisticated neoclassical tastes also present in contemporary works by artists like Angelica Kauffmann.