Who What When Where?

[KevinM]

Who painted this painting, what is the name of the statue in the painting, when was it painted and where is the location on the painting?

I'm trying to identify a few things about what I think is a signed original watercolor painting I picked up this past week. In the painting there is a street scene with a statue in it which looks very familiar but I just can't place exactly where it's located and who the statue is of and the name of the statue?

Also, I am trying to place an approximate date on the attire of what the people are wearing in the scene? I'm thinking the painting could be from around 1970's. It's a rather tall painting and I split it into 3 images of which are almost the actual size of the painting to show more detail. I think the non reflective glass distorts the images a little. Even though I picked it up for only $2 I still like it regardless of the value of the painting and want to put a little writeup about it on the back of the painting.

The framing shop sticker from Washington D.C. on the back says "This picture frame contains the new revolutionary non reflective glass the nearest thing to protection in Invisible Glass". Non reflective glass was first developed about 1938 and I'm not suggesting that the watercolor painting is from that time period. This frame, glass and painting I'm certain is much newer than around that time period. Perhaps they mean the picture frame contains "brand new" non reflective glass and that it was not a type of glass that was just introduced to the market. When was non reflective glass first used in picture frames at frame shops?

I would also like to know if anyone can figure or make out what the name of the signature is on the painting?

Any help appreciated, thanks!

Kevin

[mart]

Since you haven`t taken it out of the frame,, its difficult to tell if its an original or a print !!  Looking at technique and style it is a very nice painting.
Just taking a wild guess here,, but isn`t that statue in St.Petersburg, Russia ?? Or is it in Italy ?? I have seen a similar one but can`t remember ??

[waywardangler]

It looks like Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria in Italy but I do not see any horse/rider statues in any images yet.

OK, found one from http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1598R-9946348

The statue is "The equestrian statue of Cosimo I de Medici, by Gianbologna" http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Palazzo_vecchio.html

[KevinM]

That's it! Excellent job gentlemen, you nailed it waywardangler, nice catch, thanks! I was almost certain it was in Italy but I couldn't find it.

Since you haven`t taken it out of the frame,, its difficult to tell if its an original or a print !!

Although it's a keeper, I'm not ready to gut this fish and see what it ate just yet (unframe it).

I have put it under a strong magnifying glass under a very bright light and scanned then zoomed way in on the image and there are no dots or patterns to indicate it's not original. Ultimately, I know I'll have to take it out of the frame to know for sure.

* 2 down

What is the name of the statue in the painting?
The equestrian statue of Cosimo I de Medici, by Gianbologna

Where is the location on the painting?
Piazza della Signoria, Florence: Main Square in Florence, Italy

* 2 to go

Who painted this painting?

When was it painted?

* Possibly related time period questions.

When was non reflective glass first used in picture frames at frame shops?

What is the approximate date on the attire of what the people are wearing in the scene?

Thanks!

Kevin

[hosman321]

The store that framed it has apparently been in business for about 90 years. Maybe you could send them a photo of that sticker and they could at least tell you when it was framed. Of course, it could be older but it might help narrow down the date a bit more.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/mickelsons-fine-art-framing-washington

[KevinM]

hosman321, thanks for the suggestion. I did think about contacting the frame shop but couldn't bring myself to interrupt someone trying to run a business about the matter. I can imagine a shop like that with all those stickers out there put on pictures throughout the years is probably getting contacted all the time for information so I decided not to try and contact them.

I'm guessing that a tourist probably bought it on a trip to Florence Italy 40 years or so ago and brought it back to the Washington D.C. area where where they lived and had it framed at that shop. They may have even bought it from the art gallery at that shop.

Then again, the painting may have been bought from an Italian painter or shop in Italy since the Signature looks like it may be Italian but that's hard to say for sure because I can't even begin to guess the painters name from the signature. The signature looks like it may start with a "C" and end with an "i" although the "i" looks like it could be a semi-colon ";" or a hyphen. It does look like the artist may have put their name on the wall in the background as graffiti just around the top of the first letter of the signature which I think is a "C". Hmmm, now that I looked at it again maybe that first letter is a "U" with the lower part of the letter missing a little paint on the upswing when signing the painting.

Thanks,

Kevin

[mart]

Try googling "list of italian artists 20th century" and see if a name rings a bell !! If it does match his signature with your painting and medium !!

[KevinM]

mart, thanks for the suggestion. I tried the search and couldn't find any names that I thought it might be or resemble.

I finally unframed the watercolor painting to see if there would be any information about the artist on the matte or paper and there wasn't.

I was able to confirm that it is an original watercolor painting. There are four pin holes, one on each corner of the paper. Also, the watercolor paint bleeds over the edge of the paper in some areas. It's definitely original. There is some fade to the painting which became noticeable when it was removed from the frame. It's my guess the watercolor painting is in the neighborhood of 40 years old or so but couldn't say for sure.

I'm including a couple more images of it unframed and zoomed in to show the artist name better. If anyone cares to take a guess on the name then please do, otherwise I'm putting this one to rest as an unknown or can't figure out for now.

Thanks,

Kevin