Sapphic Erotic Scene - Felice Boscaratti (1721 – 1807)

Sapphic Erotic Scene
Oil on canvas
Felice Boscaratti (Verona 1721 – Venice 1807)

Canvas: 40 x 50 cm
Frame: 50 x 60 cm

Excellent condition

Executed with great refinement, this painting depicts an erotic scene—a rare subject, and one considered quite scandalous by the cultural standards of the time.
As his biography reveals, works of this nature—created during his final stay in Venice—caused significant trouble for the artist, even leading to the arrest of his patron and protector, Giorgio Pisani.
His portraits of women—often masked and shown in lascivious, provocative poses—were censored, and the artist was eventually forbidden from producing them.
Nevertheless, Boscaratti continued to create such pieces at the request of wealthy Venetian patrons, who wished to display them in their palaces to indulge in the pleasure of the forbidden.
The painting presented here, which captures an intimate encounter between two women, stands as one of his most daring works, charged with an unconventional eroticism.

Biographical Notes on the Artist

Felice Boscaratti was born in Verona in 1721.
He trained in the workshops of Pietro Rotari and Matteo Brida.
He later moved to Rome to "study the antique," completing an apprenticeship under the master Pompeo Batoni.
Upon his return to his homeland, the prestige of his work earned him the patronage of Bishop Bragadin; when the latter was appointed Patriarch in 1778, he brought Boscaratti with him to Venice.
Boscaratti eventually moved to Verona, where his work enjoyed a period of moderate success.
However, having fallen into disfavor, he left Verona and returned to settle once again in Venice. His activities in Venice were subject to censorship, and the content of some of his works led to the arrest of his patron, Giorgio Pisani.