Prethodno priopćenje
A Proposal for a Contribution to the Oeuvre of Mihael Stroj
Željko Brguljan
Sažetak
The paper analyses the “Portrait of Carolina Mazzalors-Hassmann”, recently donated to the Maritime Museum of Montenegro in Kotor from the estate of the noble Boka family of Smecchia. On the basis of comparison with autograph works from museum and private collections, the author attributes the portrait to the Slovenian painter Mihael Stroj (Ljubno, 1803 – Ljubljana, 1871), motivated by the unique modelling of the face, the grace of the figure and the position of the portrayed lady’s stylized hands, carefully and skilfully painted drapery, but also the balance between the figure and other figural elements – the romantic landscape in the distance, and especially the painter’s idiomatic treatment of skin which results in characteristically rendered smoothness of porcelain-like surface. All these elements of incontestable quality, despite evident decorative features, encourage the attribution of this unknown but complete work which emanates beauty and wondrousness to precisely this author and his characteristic elegant manner.
On the basis of similar hairstyles and clothes and by comparison with other portraits and surveys of contemporary fashion and biographical details of the portrayed person, the author attempts to determine the year in which the painting was created, concluding that it was executed around 1840. It could have been painted during the life of Mrs Mazzalors-Hassmann, but also after her premature death, after a portrait miniature by Andrea de Castro preserved by the heirs, which displays an identical facial expression and pose of the portrayed lady.
The relocation of the “Portrait of Carolina Mazzalors-Hassmann” from the salon of its previous owners to the permanent collection of the museum in Kotor has prompted an interest among both the public and art professionals, and the proposed attribution to Mihael Stroj is believed to earn the portrait a special place within the oeuvre of this prominent painter of the Viennese circle of the Biedermeier period.
Ključne riječi
Mihael Stroj; Biedermeier portrait; Carolina Mazzalors-Hassmann
Hrčak ID:
157231
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.1.2016.
Posjeta: 1.861 *