VICENTE PALMAROLI Zarzalejo, Madrid 1834 - Madrid 1896 Neapolitan pascucia Oil on canvas Signed size 180 x 90 cm Origin: - Christie's London, 19th Century European Art including Spanish Paintings, November 18, 2004, lot 10. - Private collection, Madrid. In 1862 Vicente Palmaroli obtained the first-class medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid with Pascuccia, a peasant woman in the vicinity of Naples, who was later acquired by the Duke of Fernán Núñez. This Neapolitan peasant belongs to her first stay at the Academy of Rome where she met her friends Eduardo Rosales and Luis Álvarez Catalá. The sculptural modeling of the young woman contadina that shows the knowledge of classical statuary together with the beautiful Venetian chromaticism of the scene make this work one of the most interesting creations of the painter.