Angelo Zoffoli

ANGELO ZOFFOLI (Italy, 1860 - 1910).
"Cardinals looking at a map".
Oil on canvas.
Signed and located in Rome in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 50 x 60 cm; 58 x 69 cm (frame).

Angelo Zoffoli was an Italian painter ascribed to romanticism. He worked in Rome and his favorite pictorial genres were the courtly environments and scenes of high prelates. His technical expertise is evident in the present painting. Two cardinals are depicted in elegant silk brocaded cassocks that glow with satin red, combined with the fine lace sleeves. They occupy wooden chairs inside a well-stocked library of bound volumes, before a map of the world spread out on the table. Their vivid faces convey the animosity of conversation. The high social status is imprinted in the costumes, but also in a metaphorical sense, as they turn to study the map as if they were political strategists, their task being to disperse Christian truth throughout the world.