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Vincenzo Irolli. The stain of the soul

Vincenzo Irolli (Naples 1860 – 1949) reached success by devoting himself to genre painting. His style was inspired by a rustic yet sincere domestic realism. The artist’s talent lay in his innate ability to capture the character and the individuality of human physiognomy through fluid, fibrous brushstrokes lit by sudden additions of material.
The large canvas entitled “Domine non sum dignus” – exhibited at the 12th International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice in 1920 and belonging to the prestigious Riccardo Jacuzzi collection – will be sold at the next Genoese auction of 19th century paintings on 15 March 2022 (lot 302, estimated price €15,000 – €18,000). Here, the artist’s verista matrix clearly emerges in all its splendour, through his ability to describe the figures that animate its works with great sensitivity. The mystical and spiritual tension is dissolved in affectionate intimacy, rendered with lively and luminous brushstrokes that seem to build and dissolve the image in fragments of light.