Achille Leonardi – Linda di Chamonnid

Linda di Chamonnid (Chamounix)

Achille Leonardi - Linda di Chamonnid
19th Century Italian oil on canvas. Size 100 x 75 cm (39 1/4" x 29 1/2").
This painting has been in private ownership of the same family since the early 1920's when it was purchased in Germany.
A larger (˜150%) version of this painting (without signature) can be found in the lobby of the Sheraton Towers Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The scene is Carlos and Linda in the Chamounix Valley with Mont Blanc in the background.

In 1842 Gaetano Donizetti composed a Melodramma semiserio in three acts called "Linda di Chamounix". In the opera the family farm is in Haute Savoie located in a valley in Ambo.

Name and signature also on back of canvas.

ABOVE:
Two versions of "Linda di Chamonnid" above are completely different sizes and the owners are known. The significant differences on the skirt and foreground in the left painting are the result of restoration which did not conform to the original.
It is known that some of the variants are the works of copyists or art students.
LEFT:
Antonio Sasso was a prolific Italian copyist working in the mid-late nineteenth century, and exhibited at the International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia. Canvas inscribed on the reverse: “Prof. A. Sasso and Son, Borgognissanti Florence”, original gilt-wood frame, with some restorations to painting.
Canvas size: 38”h x 29”w
Overall size in frame: 45 ½”h x 35”w