Date
1931
Object Type
Painting
Subject
The Three-Voice Choir
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Painting Collection. On long-term loan to the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milan, since 1934; currently on display at the Museo del Novecento, Milan
About The Work
When it was exhibited at the Società per le Belle Arti ed Esposizione Permanente in Milan during the III Mostra sindacale lombarda in 1932, the Coro a tre voci won the Ricci Prize and was acquired by the Brera Academy. The artist's contemplation of 15th-century Italian art is reflected in the painting, both in its reference to the spatiality of architecture (evoking that of Leon Battista Alberti) and in the use of an ancient technique, such as tempera grassa (egg-oil tempera). During this period, Usellini developed his own artistic style, characterised by a metaphysical classicism inspired by the great Italian painters Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca.
The Coro a tre voci is a key work in this artistic exploration. Renaissance architecture appears to merge mystically with the choir’s perfect singing in the painting's foreground. However, as Elena Pontiggia has observed, the asymmetry of the composition and the contrast in the depiction of the three figures (which are reminiscent of certain terracotta works by Arturo Martini) contradict this harmony, suggesting an imperceptible dissonance.
A leading figure among the major exponents of magical realism and close to the Italian Novecento group, Usellini experiments here using a light-coloured dominant, leading critics of the time to compare his pictorial language to that of the future Chiaristi: Angelo Del Bon, Umberto Lilloni, and Francesco De Rocchi.
The Coro a tre voci is a key work in this artistic exploration. Renaissance architecture appears to merge mystically with the choir’s perfect singing in the painting's foreground. However, as Elena Pontiggia has observed, the asymmetry of the composition and the contrast in the depiction of the three figures (which are reminiscent of certain terracotta works by Arturo Martini) contradict this harmony, suggesting an imperceptible dissonance.
A leading figure among the major exponents of magical realism and close to the Italian Novecento group, Usellini experiments here using a light-coloured dominant, leading critics of the time to compare his pictorial language to that of the future Chiaristi: Angelo Del Bon, Umberto Lilloni, and Francesco De Rocchi.
Title
Il coro a tre voci
Creator
Gianfilippo Usellini
Subject
The Three-Voice Choir
Object Type
Painting
Original Function
Competitions and artistic fellowships (Premio Ricci, 1931)
Date
1931
Inscriptions
Signed ad dated lower right: "Usellini Gianfilippo Milano X"
Technique / Support
Tempera grassa on panel
Visual analysis of the technique
Gianfilippo Usellini possessed an in-depth knowledge of the techniques employed by the Old Masters, which he imparted as a professor of applied decoration and fresco painting. His personal notes from 1946 to 1950 contain various recipes for egg tempera (Tovagliaro, Eliana, Le ricette di Gianfilippo Usellini. In: Gianfilippo Usellini. Catalogo Generale delle Opere, edited by Luigi Sansone and Fanny Usellini, vol. 2, Turin: U. Allemandi, 2022, pp. 119–121). 119–121). Painted in tempera grassa (egg-oil tempera), the Coro a Tre Voci features the resilient and flexible paint surface typical of this traditional medium.
Dimensions
cm 122 x 82
Acquisition
Acquired as the winning piece of the Premio Ricci competition in 1932
Holding institution
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Painting Collection. On long-term loan to the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milan, since 1934; currently on display at the Museo del Novecento, Milan
Inventory number
Reg. 1943, 1
Bibliography
Ginex, Giovanna. Entry no. 742. In Pinacoteca di Brera. Dipinti dell’Ottocento e del Novecento. Collezioni dell’Accademia e della Pinacoteca, vol. 2, Musei e Gallerie di Milano, edited by Fernando Mazzocca. Milano: Mondadori Electa, 1994. 665–666, ill.
Pontiggia, Elena. Entry no. 15. In Gianfilippo Usellini (1903-1971), exhibition catalogue (Milano, Rotonda di via Besana, 15 October 2003 - 6 January 2004), edited by Pontiggia, Elena. Cinisello Balsamo (Milano): Silvana Editoriale 2003. 99, 45 ill.
Piero della Francesca. Indagine su un mito, exhibition catalogue (Forlì, Musei San Domenico, 13 February 2016 - 26 June 2016), edited by Paolucci, Antonio, Benati, Daniele, Dabell, Frank, Mazzocca; Fernando and Tramonti, Ulisse. Cinisello Balsamo (Milano): Silvana Editoriale 2016. no. 137, 245 ill.
Ferrari, Daniela “Evocazioni dell’antico”. In Un’eterna bellezza. Il canone classico nell’arte italiana del primo Novecento, exhibition catalogue (Madrid, Fundación Mapfre, 25 February - 4 June 2017; Rovereto, Mart. Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, 2 July - 5 November 2017), edited by Avanzi, Beatrice and Ferrari, Daniela. Electa: Milano 2017. 103, no. 22, 116 ill.(incorrectly dated 1934).
De Sabbata, Massimo. Entry no. 77, In Museo del Novecento. La collezione, edited by Fergonzi, Flavio, Negri, Antonello and Pugliese, Marina. Electa: Milano 2010. 149 ill. (incorrectly dated 1934).
Gianfilippo Usellini. Catalogo generale delle opere, edited by Sansone, Luigi and Usellini, Fanny, vol. 2. Torino: U. Allemandi, 2022. no. 64, 501-502 ill. (with previous bibliography).
Pontiggia, Elena. Entry no. 15. In Gianfilippo Usellini (1903-1971), exhibition catalogue (Milano, Rotonda di via Besana, 15 October 2003 - 6 January 2004), edited by Pontiggia, Elena. Cinisello Balsamo (Milano): Silvana Editoriale 2003. 99, 45 ill.
Piero della Francesca. Indagine su un mito, exhibition catalogue (Forlì, Musei San Domenico, 13 February 2016 - 26 June 2016), edited by Paolucci, Antonio, Benati, Daniele, Dabell, Frank, Mazzocca; Fernando and Tramonti, Ulisse. Cinisello Balsamo (Milano): Silvana Editoriale 2016. no. 137, 245 ill.
Ferrari, Daniela “Evocazioni dell’antico”. In Un’eterna bellezza. Il canone classico nell’arte italiana del primo Novecento, exhibition catalogue (Madrid, Fundación Mapfre, 25 February - 4 June 2017; Rovereto, Mart. Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, 2 July - 5 November 2017), edited by Avanzi, Beatrice and Ferrari, Daniela. Electa: Milano 2017. 103, no. 22, 116 ill.(incorrectly dated 1934).
De Sabbata, Massimo. Entry no. 77, In Museo del Novecento. La collezione, edited by Fergonzi, Flavio, Negri, Antonello and Pugliese, Marina. Electa: Milano 2010. 149 ill. (incorrectly dated 1934).
Gianfilippo Usellini. Catalogo generale delle opere, edited by Sansone, Luigi and Usellini, Fanny, vol. 2. Torino: U. Allemandi, 2022. no. 64, 501-502 ill. (with previous bibliography).
Conservation status
Good
Restoration history
Conservation work carried out in 2004 by Barbara Ferriani, Studio di restauro
Type of intervention
surface cleaning, paint film consolidation, filling of losses, paint restoration
Supervisory Authority: Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Milan
Internal scientific director: Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Chiara Nenci
Technical director / Qualified restorer: Barbara Ferriani
Type of intervention
surface cleaning, paint film consolidation, filling of losses, paint restoration
Supervisory Authority: Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Milan
Internal scientific director: Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Chiara Nenci
Technical director / Qualified restorer: Barbara Ferriani
Frame, base, secondary support
Historical frame. A rectangular, gilded frame with a slender profile featuring alternating concave and convex mouldings.
Unique identifier
0302201008