The Suitor signed lower left 'F Beda' oil on canvas 66 x 92.5 cm Footnote: Provenance: The Weston Gallery, Weston Longville, Norwich Francesco Beda was born in Trieste in 1840, then a prosperous Habsburg port of the Austrian Empire (later the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867). Beda travelled to nearby Venice to enrol at the Accademia di Venezia, where he studied under Karl von Blaas (1815-1894), previously a Professor at the Academy of Vienna. Specialising in portraits and elegant historical genre scenes, Beda gained great success throughout the Empire and came to the attention of the Habsburg imperial family. He travelled extensively through Croatia, Austria, Hungary, England and North Africa, securing numerous commissions from wealthy patrons, including the Empress Elizabeth. His Rococo interiors filled with elegantly dressed figures catered to the taste of the new bourgeoisie and became highly fashionable. Valued for their exquisite detail, they appealed to the emerging fascination and curiosity for the refined tastes and decadent lifestyles of the old aristocracy of the previous century. Drawing upon the art of Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891), Beda is regarded as one of Meissonier’s most talented followers, creating his own entertaining and light-hearted style.