The toast
5.000 €
This refined, large-format piece (95 x 75 cm with frame) executed in 1920 by the distinguished Italian painter Cipriano Mannucci (1882–1970), titled The Toast, is a sumptuous example of the neo-Rococo galant genre, evoking the sophistication and festive splendor of 18th-century aristocratic courts. The composition recreates an elegant palatial banquet where a select group of ladies and gentlemen, dressed in ostentatious period attire with powdered wigs and rich embroideries, gathers around a lavishly adorned table to raise their glasses in a celebratory toast. Mannucci displays extraordinary technical virtuosity through an agile, fluid, and vibrant brushstroke of precious quality, masterfully rendering the tactile qualities of silks, satins, laces, the gleam of tableware, and the sumptuous decoration of the salon appointed with candelabras, tapestries, and a folding screen. The artwork stands out for its dazzling luminist treatment and a rich color palette where golden, rosy, bluish, and vermilion tones blend harmoniously, encased in a spectacular period frame profusely carved and gilded with a noble patina that enhances its palatial, aristocratic flair and high collectible distinction.
TechniqueWatercolor sobre papel
Dimensions95x75 cm
Year1920
ArtistMANUCCI, Cipriano
MANUCCI, Cipriano
Born in Nice (France) in 1882 and died in Florence (Italy) in 1970. He studied in Florence at the Santa Croce School of Art. In 1908, he won an award at an exhibition held by the Florentine Fine Arts Society. He lived for several years in Paris, where he exhibited frequently, and participated in exhibitions across Italy and South America, receiving numerous accolades. A refined artist, he focused primarily on landscapes and female portraits. He was one of the founders of the Sampierdarenesi school of masters from the late 19th to early 20th century, which included artists such as Giuseppe Sacheri, Alberto Helios Gagliardo, Mario Chianese, Gennaro d'Amato, Antonio Maria Morera, and the sculptor Ave Bassano. In 1921, a solo exhibition in London earned him invitations to exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and later at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. Mannucci painted several portraits for the English aristocracy. He exhibited in Venice, Milan, Florence, Bologna, and Genoa. Abroad, he showed his work in São Paulo, Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, and Amsterdam. In the United States, two major allegorical compositions, Grande Trittico della Vittoria (1914–18) and Il Trionfo del Diritto, are preserved in major museums. Several of his works are held in the offices of Banca Toscana, Cassa di Risparmio di Bologna, the Museum of Modern Art of Genoa, and the Museum of Fiume, while the large-scale composition Armonie is housed in the concert hall of Villa Quaglino in Carrara.
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