Saltarello di Eminiati

Two peasant couples in traditional period dress. In the center, a man and a woman dance barefoot to the rhythm of the music. The famous "Saltarello," created in the typical style of the Roman engraver and painter Bartolomeo Pinelli.

This type of work was part of the famous collections dedicated to "picturesque costumes," much loved by foreign travelers on the Grand Tour who wanted to take home a souvenir of everyday life and popular Italian traditions of the early nineteenth century.

The attribution to Filippo Ferrari (Rome, 1785–1850) is an extremely valid and plausible hypothesis. As a student and disciple of the more famous Bartolomeo Pinelli, Ferrari inherited his compositional approach to genre scenes. However, compared to Pinelli, Ferrari distinguished himself with a less caricatural approach and much more attentive to the documentary realism of the costumes. The standing figures, the precision of the footwear (or bare feet), and the composure of the dancers faithfully reflect his modus operandi. Ferrari was meticulous in his rendering of the details of Lazio's folk dress. Observing his subjects, one notices the typical laced bodices, the colorful aprons, the women's embroidered shirts, and the men's shorts with leg bands—elements the artist meticulously catalogued in his plates, which were popular among collectors of the time.