Bidspirit auction | AUGUSTO GUGLIELMO STOPPOLONI (San Severino

AUGUSTO GUGLIELMO STOPPOLONI (San Severino Marche, 1855 - Gubbio, 1936) - Oil on canvas Height x width with frame: 63 x 115 cm The scene depicts a procession of barbarian warriors storming a classical city, with architectural ruins and an ancient-style colonnade visible in the background. The theme is part of the artistic trend of “barbarian invasions” and the fall of Rome, widely popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The female figure in a white dress, seated in a submissive posture on the left, most likely represents an allegory of Roman civilization, or of the city itself, captured at the moment of its fall, set in contrast to the impetuosity of the group of horsemen advancing from the right: this visual contrast forms the dramatic and moral fulcrum of the scene. The rapid brushwork is consistent with a sketch or preparatory study, perhaps intended for a larger-scale version or a mural/monumental decoration, as the painting’s lunette shape also suggests. Signed “A.G. STOPPOLONI” in the lower left corner. Literature: G.G. Massara (a cura di), Augusto Guglielmo Stoppoloni. 1855-1936. Opere , catalogo della mostra, Galleria Bellomonte, Torino, 1992, p. 44.