Girolamo Gianni (Italian 1837-1895)

Artist: Girolamo Gianni (Italian 1837-1895).
Title: Market Sellers Giza, Cairo.
Medium: Oil on cardboard.
Framed Size: Height 17.5 cm x Width 20.5 cm x Depth 1.5 cm.
Image Size: Height 10.5 cm x Width 13.5 cm.
(The measurements are the maximum height and width of the oval).
Condition: This painting has been cropped and is a fragment of a larger work. This is common practice with paintings of quality and is often undertaken when a work has been damaged in areas and the damage is beyond what would be repairable with a reasonable and acceptable level of conservation. The original mat is available with the painting so as to maintain the history of the work. The painting is in good condition, having recently undergone inspection and placed under Museum Art glass for protection, and the backing being exchanged for an acid-free panel with the original Rowley Gallery label re-adhered verso. It is glazed with anti-reflective invisible ArtGlass AR70.
Provenance: Rowley Gallery Ltd, London. Private Collection London.

About: Girolamo Gianni was born in Naples in 1837, the son of Luigi Gianni and Rosa de Luca. Little is known of his artistic education, which suggests he may have learned his trade in one of the art workshops common in Naples at the time.

Known for his scenic views around the harbours of Malta and Naples along with a series of paintings that were produced whilst on tour in Egypt, this work being of the latter. In 1882/83 Gianni travelled to Egypt, this was a trip that resulted in Market Sellers Giza Cairo (Circa 1883), along with a series of paintings of Egypt, which included a painting of the July 1882 Royal Navy bombardment of Alexandria.

In due course, Gianni became successful to the point that in 1886, the Duke of Edinburgh, then Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean fleet, commissioned Gianni to paint the fleet. As his standing as an artist increased in Malta, Gianni set himself up as a capo scuola, or teacher, of Maltese artists. With Luigi Maria Galea and Signora Manche being among his students.