17 Works, Today, May 14th. is Domenico Induno's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #132

Domenico Induno, (MILAN 1815 - 1878)

THE VILLAFRANCA BULLETIN, c. 1859

Watercolor on paper applied on cardboard

19.2 x 26.9 cm

Private collection

The painter in one of his letters describes the first of the three works as follows: " It is July 14, 1859, when the news of the peace of Villafranca came to Milan by surprise; I want to reach the impression it made in the people and not already the official act [...] of workers, French and Italian soldiers and volunteers, gentlemen and the poor of all sexes "collected outside a tavern on the outskirts of Milan. 

The armistice was signed at Villafranca on 6 July 1859 between France, allied to Piedmont, and Austria. This brought an end to the second Italian war of independence permitting the annexation of Lombardy to the Kingdom of Savoy through the agency of France, though Veneto remained in the Austrian Empire. Signed unilaterally by Napoleon III, the armistice was received with great indignation in Italy, especially by those who like Induno had personally taken part in the anti-Austrian uprisings and now saw their hopes of national unity dashed. More on this painting

Domenico Induno (14 May 1815 – 5 November 1878) was an Italian painter, primarily of genre and historical scenes. His younger brother, Gerolamo, also became a well-known artist and they often worked together.

Domenico Induno

La famiglia del pescatore/ The fisherman's family

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Gerolamo Induno

The spinner, c. 1863

Oil on canvas

65.5 x 52 cm

Genoa, Gallery of Modern Art

The spinner of Gerolamo Induno documents a domestic activity common to many poor women in the nineteenth century in Italy.

The young woman sits in the darkness of her poor home. She is intent on spinning, in fact in front of the girl there is a small domestic spinning wheel. On the left, then on top of a poor piece of furniture, crockery and other objects are placed in disorder. More on this painting

Gerolamo Induno

Triste presentimento, c. 1862

Oil on canvas

67 x 86 cm

Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera

Sad Presentiment by Gerolamo Induno is a painting in which the protagonist's feelings allude to an event linked to the Italian Risorgimento.

A young woman sadly looks at an object she holds in her hands. The girl sits on the unmade bed and wears a nightgown. Her appearance reveals that she has just woken up. His clothes are placed on the chair on the left, while objects, a book and ankle boots are scattered on the floor. Inside the small niche next to the bed there is a bust of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Above, however, there are some reproductions of works including the Kiss by Francesco Hayez . The decor of the room and its condition reveal that it is a poor environment. Finally under the bed you can see a dark wooden trunk. More on this painting

Gerolamo Induno

The Great Sacrifice, c. 1860

Departure of the Garibaldian

Oil on canvas

60.5 x 45 cm

Milan, Brera Art Gallery

The Great Sacrifice is a painting by Gerolamo Induno which is part of the works of the Risorgimento. It shares an iconographic model with other paintings that tell the battles through personal drama. The artist was also inspired by a news story. The boy is leaving for a military campaign under the command of Giuseppe Garibaldi. The portrait of the general is placed on his mother's table.

An elderly woman hugs a young man dressed in military clothing. he young man is standing still and welcomes the woman's embrace with dignity and a bit of sadness. The interior of the room is poor and the old woman has just quit her sewing work to say goodbye to the young man who is leaving. On the table you can see the working tools and a ball of yarn is rolled on the ground. More on this painting

He was born in Milan, where his father was a chef and butler at the Milanese court. He was apprenticed at an early age to the goldsmith and medalist, Luigi Cossa, who was impressed by his talent for drawing and convinced him to enroll at the Brera Academy. He was accepted there in 1831 and studied, successively, with Pompeo Marchesi, Luigi Sabatelli and Francesco Hayez, who had the most influence on his style.

Domenico Induno, (1815-1878 Milan)

Devotional, c. 1865

Oil on canvas

56.5 x 43 cm

Private collection

Domenico Induno

The Chaste Susanna

Oil on canvas
I have no further description, at this time

A fair Hebrew wife named Susanna was falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. As she bathes in her garden, having sent her attendants away, two lustful elders secretly observe the lovely Susanna. When she makes her way back to her house, they accost her, threatening to claim that she was meeting a young man in the garden unless she agrees to have sex with them.

She refuses to be blackmailed and is arrested and about to be put to death for promiscuity when a young man named Daniel interrupts the proceedings, shouting that the elders should be questioned to prevent the death of an innocent. After being separated, the two men are questioned about details of what they saw, but disagree about the tree under which Susanna supposedly met her lover. In the Greek text, the names of the trees cited by the elders form puns with the sentence given by Daniel. The first says they were under a mastic, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to cuthim in two. The second says they were under an evergreen oak tree, and Daniel says that an angel stands ready to saw him in two. The great difference in size between a mastic and an oak makes the elders' lie plain to all the observers. The false accusers are put to death, and virtue triumphs. More about Susanna

At this time, he favored scenes from the Bible or classical history. In 1840, he obtained a commission from agents representing Emperor Ferdinand I to paint a scene depicting Saul being anointed king by the prophet Samuel, for display at the Imperial Gallery in Vienna.

Domenico Induno (1815 - 1878)

Laying of the first stone of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, c. 1865-1867

Oil painting on canvas

134 × 226 cm

Private collection

Paintings by Gerolamo and Domenico Induno ordered in a retrospective exhibition by the Galleria dell’Arte e dell’Esame in the Castello Sforzesco", Milan, 1933.

The work is of great importance in nineteenth-century Italian painting both for its references to realism and for the evident influence of the Impressionists. More on this painting

Over the next few years, he gradually abandoned history painting in favor of genre scenes, which were then in style among liberal members of the Milanese aristocracy. His mentor, Hayez, assisted him in obtaining noble patrons. In 1843, he married Emilia Trezzini, the sister of one of his students, Angelo Trezzini. Five years later, following his participation in the Five Days of Milan he, his wife and brother Gerolamo were forced to flee to Ticino, to escape the reprisals that followed. In 1850, when it was safe, they returned and settled in Florence.

Domenico Induno

La bagnante/ The bather

Oil on canvas

54.5 x 33 cm 

Private collection

Domenico Induno

A MOMENT OF REPOSE

oil on canvas

Private collection

In 1854, he was named a "Socio d’Arte" at the Brera Academy. The following year, he held his first exhibition outside Italy at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, which was considered a great success. In 1860, he was named a judge for a major patriotic art competition sponsored by Bettino Ricasoli. Later that year, he began working on several scenes related to the Armistice of Villafranca; one of which was commissioned by King Victor Emmanuel II and earned him a title in the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.

Domenico Induno  (1815–1878)

The Battle of the River Tchernaya, c. 1857

Oil on canvas

w494 x h292 cm

Gallerie d'Italia, Piazza Scala, 6, Milano

Induno stated in the exhibition catalogue, the painting was based on numerous sketches that he made when serving with the Piedmontese army on its expedition to the Crimea in 1855 alongside British and French forces to defend the Ottoman Empire against Russia. More on this painting

Domenico Induno

The Vivandière

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Vivandière or cantinière is a French name for women attached to military regiments as sutlers or canteen keepers. Their actual historic function of selling wine to the troops and working in canteens led to the adoption of the name 'cantinière. Vivandières served in the French army up until the beginning of World War I, but the custom (and the name) spread to many other armies. Vivandières also served on both sides in the American Civil War, and in the armies of Spain, Italy, the German states, Switzerland, and various armies in South America, though little is known about the details in most of those cases as historians have not done extensive research on them. More on the Vivandière

Domenico Induno  (1815–1878)

Il ritorno del soldato ferito/ Return of the Wounded Soldier, c. 1854

Oil on canvas

Height: 42.4 cm (16.6 in); Width: 53 cm (20.8 in)

Gallerie di Piazza Scala 

This work is a variation of the larger painting The Call-up of the Follower of Garibaldi (1854, Lonigo Vicentino, Villa Godi Valmarana, Malinverni Collection). The painting depicts a soldier who has just been discharged because of the wounds he has received in battle, holding the discharge paper in his hand. Induno depicts the painful situation of a war volunteer in the privacy of his humble home. He is equally distressed by the idea of leaving his dear ones and by not being able to serve the cause of independence as a follower of Giuseppe Garibaldi.  More on this painting

Domenico Induno  (1815–1878)

L’arrivo del Bollettino di Villafranca/ Arrival of the Bulletin Announcing the Armistice of Villafranca, c. between 1861 and 1862

Oil on canvas

Height: 89.7 cm (35.3 in); Width: 115 cm (45.2 in)

Gallerie di Piazza Scala

The armistice and preliminaries of Villafranca were signed on 11 July 1859 in Villafranca di Verona , in the Veneto , by France and Austria. It put an end to the Austro-Franco-Sardinian War which constitutes for Italy, the second Italian War of Independence. More on Armistice of Villafranca

Sebastiano De Albertis  (1828–1897)

3rd division artillery at the battle of San Martino, c. 1887

Oil on canvas

Galleries of Piazza Scala

In 1859, during the Second Italian War of Independence, – there was another greater battle here, more commonly called the Battle of Solferino or the Battle of Solferino and San Martino (it was that portion of the struggle, which was fought out between Benedek and the Piedmontese army, that is sometimes called the battle of San Martino. 

Benedek's corps held its own all day and covered the retreat of the defeated Austrian army, at the end of the action. Solferino was the largest battle since that at Leipzig in 1813. As a result of their defeat, the Austrians lost their grip on the region. The village of San Martino was renamed San Martino della Battaglia and a tower, museum and ossuary have been erected as a monument to the battle and its fallen. More on the battle of San Martino

Induno, Gerolamo, (1827-90)

The Injured Garibaldi (1807-82) in the Aspromonte Mountains

Oil on canvas)

Museo Civico Rivoltello, Trieste, Italy

Garibaldi was an Italian patriot and military leader. He was a hero of the Risorgimento (the movement for the unification and independence of Italy), who began his political activity as a member of the Young Italy Movement. After involvement in the early struggles against Austrian rule in the 1830s and 1840s he commanded a volunteer force on the Sardinian side in 1859, and successfully led his ‘Red Shirts’ to victory in Sicily and southern Italy in 1860–61, thus playing a vital part in the establishment of a united kingdom of Italy. He was less successful in his attempts to conquer the papal territories around French-held Rome in 1862 and 1867. More on this painting

Domenico Induno (Italian, 1815–1878)

L'attesa dello sposo , 1873

Oil on Canvas

113 x 160 cm. (44.5 x 63 in.)

Private collection

In 1863, he became Director of the Brera Academy and no longer participated in their annual exhibitions. Ten years later, at the World Exposition in Vienna, he was awarded a gold medal for Un dramma domestico (See above), a critique of society in post-unification Italy. After that, his paintings became rather gloomy and melancholy. Although suffering from a serious eye ailment, he was able to participate in the Exposition Universelle of 1878, but died later that year, in Milan. More on Domenico Induno

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.