Dream of freedom, attributed to Eliseo Sala (1813–1879)

Eliseo SALA, attributed to
(Milan, 1813 – Triuggio, 1879)

Dream of freedom

Oil on canvas
46 x 38 cm without frame
66 x 57 with frame
Around 1846

Related work: La toeletta del mattino (1846) – Private collection in London

Eliseo Sala was born in Milan on 2 January 1813, the son of Francesco, a grocer, and Teresa Delmati, a wealthy landowner who died the same day from complications related to childbirth. In 1821, after the death of his father, he was entrusted to the guardianship of his uncle Alessandro De Capitani d'Arzago. After completing his studies at the S. Alessandro high school, he was hired in 1830 as an apprentice in a grocery store near the Teatro alla Scala. In 1832, encouraged by the Marquis Antonio Brusca, who became his first patron, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brera, where his teachers were Carlo Amati for the architecture course and Giuseppe Sogni for sculpture. Between 1834 and 1839 he also attended the school of nudes under the direction of Luigi Sabatelli. In 1837 he presented himself for the first time at the Exhibition of Fine Arts in Brera with six portraits, while in the 1838 edition he offered four portraits and The Flagellation of Christ, the only painting with a religious subject that he had produced during his career. In 1839, having come of age and having taken possession of his parents' property, he decided to undertake a series of study trips. He first went to Venice, invited by Ferdinando Bassi, his colleague at the Academy, and made various copies of Titian during his stay in the lagoon. Then, in 1840, he arrived in Rome, where he met Francesco Coghetti and became his friend. He then traveled throughout Europe, visiting cities in England, France and the Netherlands. Returning to Milan in 1841, he again exhibited several portraits and a painting with a historical subject. For over twenty years, Sala's presence at the periodic Exhibition of Fine Arts in Brera was almost constant. On 12 July 1844, Sala was appointed artistic member of the Brera Academy, with the qualification of historical painter. In September 1848, in the climate of political instability generated by the provisional government of Milan, and with the intention of expanding the circle of his clients, Sala moved to Intra, where he made numerous portraits of wealthy local entrepreneurs. Avoiding returning to Lombardy-Veneto, given his aversion to the Austrian government, he left Intra at the beginning of 1849 to settle in Turin and, in the spring, he took part in the exhibition of the Società promoter di belle Arti. At the end of the summer, after spending the holidays in Acqui Terme, he returned to Milan for a few months and, in November, he married Angiola Robecchi. Returning to Turin at the beginning of 1850, he entered the circle of Lombard exiles and became friends with Gabrio Casati, Teodoro Lechi, Carlo Cameroni, Felice Cerruti Bauduc, Count Carlo Carignani and his wife Claretta Tesio di Valloria, whose portraits he painted. In 1851, Ferdinando of Savoy, Duke of Genoa, commissioned him to paint the portrait of his wife Elisabeth of Saxony, a work that Sala sent to the Brera Fine Arts Exhibition. In September and October, together with the painters Costantino Prinetti and Felice De Vecchi, he made a trip to Europe: he was in London for the first Universal Exhibition, then went to Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Ostend and finally Geneva, visiting museums and galleries. On November 3, his son Giuseppe was born in Milan, and after the birth, his wife joined him in the Savoyard capital. In December 1854, he left for Paris to satisfy the request for two portraits desired by Emilia Sommariva Seillière. In 1855, he sent the Portrait of the Marquis Lodovico Trotti Bentivoglio to the Universal Exhibition in Paris. In the spring of 1858, in Casale Monferrato, he met and painted the portrait of the businessman Emilio Vitta, an art collector, with whom he went to Florence in 1860 to attend the entry into the city of Vittorio Emanuele II and then to follow the sovereign's travels to Bologna and Genoa. In 1863, Emilio Vitta commissioned him to paint the Portrait of Vittorio Emanuele II; the following year, the Royal Court of Appeal of Genoa asked him to make a full-length effigy of the sovereign. In 1866, he participated for the last time in the Brera Fine Arts Exhibition with the Portrait of Massimo d'Azeglio, which he sent to the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867. The same year Vittorio Emanuele II awarded him the title of baron. On 20 September 1872 he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy and a member of the executive committee of the second National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Milan. In 1877, struck by a stroke that left him crippled, he was forced to interrupt his activity. He died on 24 June 1879 in Rancate di Triuggio (Monza).

Our painting, with a similar composition, could be compared to one of the rare romantic painting by Eliseo Sala currently in a private collection in London and entitled La toeletta del mattino.

Museums: Brescia, Milan (Gal. Arte Moderna, Brera), Genoa …