1698 -1767 · Portrait and social reality in Northern Italy

Discover Giacomo Ceruti, known as Il Pitocchetto, painter of the humble, the hardworking and the portraits of striking truth in 18th century Italy.

Born in Milan in 1698, Giacomo Ceruti developed most of his career between Brescia, Bergamo, Venice, Padua and Piacenza. He became a sought-after portraitist, capable of soberly capturing the rank, age and temperament of his models. But its singularity is mainly due to its scenes devoted to peasants, beggars, artisans and vagabonds, the pitocchi which earned him the nickname Il Pitocchetto. Ceruti paints them on a large scale, with worn clothes, restrained gestures and direct glances. He avoids the easy picturesque like caricature: poverty appears with gravity, dignity and physical presence. He avoids the easy picturesque like caricature: poverty appears with gravity, dignity and direct attention. He avoids the easy picturesque like caricature: poverty appears with gravity, dignity and direct attention. He avoids the easy picturesque like caricature: poverty appears with gravity, dignity and direct attention. He avoids the easy picturesque like caricature: poverty appears with gravity, dignity and direct attention. He avoids easy picturesqueness like caricature: poverty appears with gravity, dignity and direct attention. He avoids easy picturesqueness like caricature: poverty appears with gravity, dignity and direct attention. He avoids easy picturesqueness like caricature: poverty body and simplicity of settings. In the portraits of an old man or woman accompanied by a dog, the relationship between human and animal adds a dimension of fidelity, solitude and silent attention. The "Giacomo Ceruti" selection notably compares An Old Man with a Dog and A Woman with a Dog. His reading favors atmosphere.

Ceruti does not transform the humble into types: he looks at them as individuals, with their fatigue, their dignity and their silence.