The Sword Dance - Giovanni Muzzioli (1854 - 1894)

Giovanni Muzzioli (Modena, February 10, 1854 - Modena, August 5, 1894) "The Sword Dance" Size 75x 125 cm. Giovanni Muzzioli, Modena painter, trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Modena and completed his training in Rome and Florence. In Rome, where he found himself from 1873, he documented classical antiquity and came into contact with ancient "genre" painting, inspired by wall paintings brought to light during excavations in Pompeii and the surrounding area. Moreover, in 1878 he had the opportunity to study the subject in greater depth and visited the Paris Exhibition, where he saw the works of Lawrence Alma-Tadema, a Dutch artist who became the main exponent of a genre that experienced a great success in the second half. of the 19th century: neo-Pompeian painting. This current favors the representation of subjects from the classical world and scenes of ancient decorations. "The Dance of the Swords", or "Cubistetèira", belongs to the genre of neo-Pompeian paintings. The decor is inspired by Greco-Roman antiquity: the scene takes place on a terrace from which you can see the rest of the city. A dance scene takes place in the center: the dancer, called a cubistetèira, harnesses herself to this dance between swords stuck in the ground, while another girl in front of her plays a double flute. On the right, spectators eager to watch the match. All characters are depicted in ancient Roman style clothing. On the left, next to the girl playing the flute, there is a fountain surrounded by vegetation. In this work, Muzzioli offers a moment of daily life: he looks at the ancient world but not illustrious characters, but common figures of the people. We are looking for a more faithful vision of the reality portrayed and the subjects depicted, so much so that the landscape depicted can suggest inspiration from real places and even the characters refer to Muzzioli's observation of the ordinary people of his time. In addition to this specific painting, there is another version kept in Modena in the collection of the Provincial Art Collection (catalogue of the exhibition The True, the Exhibition and the Fiction, Modena 2009-2010, p. 57, pl. 12). In the latter, the same characters and the same dance scene are preserved, but instead of the fountain on the left a column covered with a climbing plant is represented. READING LIST: catalog of the Giovanni Muzzioli exhibition. Truth, History and Fiction, G. Martinelli Braglia, P. Nicholls, L. Rivi (edited by), Turin, 2009