'The Wedding Party,' large oil-on-canvas painting by Arturo Ricci

Painted in the mature years of Arturo Ricci's career, this beautiful artwork is titled 'The Wedding Party,' on a gilt plaque on the frame, and signed 'Arturo Ricci,' to the lower right. It is set within a carved giltwood frame. The present work is a Ricci of exceptional quality: few large paintings by the artist were brought to such a high level of execution and detailing. 

Ricci was an Academic and Classical artist, with a style clearly influenced by the Italian Rococo. He made a reputation as an exceptional genre painter, and an artist depicting scenes of everyday life in the aristocratic court. This particular painting depicts a scene within a lavishly adorned palatial interior. In the centre of the composition a young girl displays a basket of flowers as the bride and groom proceed inside, approaching a pair of seated ladies from a large doorway to the back, covered with a rich billowing green curtain and with screens, and an entourage following behind.

The interior is filled with beautiful paintings and objects that line the walls, and which reflect the rich, Pre-Industrial, wealth, opulence, and idyllic Rococo lifestyle displayed in the actual central composition. The painting is worked with impeccable skill and masterly painterly qualities, the figures depicted with a particularly graceful sensitivity and charm.

Frame: Height 90cm, width 121cm, depth 8cm
Canvas: Height 68cm, width 100cm, depth 2cm