Modern painting signed by Luigi Brignoli, oil on canvas, 1935

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated at the bottom left on the left side of the canvas. The large composition consists of three separate canvases, the central one developed vertically (dimensions 220 X 128 cm) and rounded at the upper edge, with the two side canvases developed horizontally and shaped at the corners (dimensions 150 X 328 cm). The central canvas is dominated by the figure of Venus, who emerges naked from the sea foam, one arm raised to cover her eyes to shield herself from the dawn light; on the two side canvases, a group of tritons, mermaids, sea nymphs, and sea monsters, led by the god Poseidon, identifiable on the left by the trident he holds, watches the event with astonishment and joyful exultation. The figures stand out against the background of sea and sky, merged in a luminous continuum of shades of blue, in which the pink light of dawn seeps in, illuminating the scene. Trained at the school of Cesare Tallone, Brignoli learned from him the naturalism derived from the Venetian tradition, the observation of nature, the decisive brushstroke, and the strong contrasts of light. Furthermore, after several trips to Africa, which began in 1922, Brignoli moved closer to Orientalist painting, but he avoided forms of exotic rhetoric, instead reviving the new subject with a careful search for colours and the effects of light on the landscape. This work, belonging to the artist's already "African" period, is influenced by this imprint, in the bright and clear chromatic choices. Due to its size and the composition of the three canvases, it has a significant scenographic impact: coming from a large villa in Brescia, where it was displayed on the imposing staircase, it was likely conceived and created specifically as a custom decorative element. The canvases are presented in contemporary gilded frames, some parts of which are missing.