Work accompanied by written authentication by the prof. Fernando Mazzocca

The painting is a rare testimony to the portraiture production of Luigi Trécourt, older brother of the better-known Giacomo, with whom he shared a brilliant career, establishing himself above all for his paintings and frescoes in the churches of Bergamo. Both brothers trained at the painting school of the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo then directed by Giuseppe Diotti, and then distinguished themselves with an original style, their appreciation by local collectors, important exponents of the aristocracy such as the Camozzi Vertova family, who above all Luigi was bequeathed.
From 1842 he stayed for a long time in Pavia, following Giacomo who was appointed professor of the Civic School of Painting. More than in the sacred genre, he was influenced by his brother in portraits, as confirmed by the few known works and in particular a painting of notable quality, perhaps his masterpiece, known as The Surprise and preserved in the Civic Museums of Pavia. It is the portrait of two young women intent on reading a letter from which they must have received unexpected news. The beautiful face of our lady, portrayed frontally and in a highly effective pose with her hand coming to the foreground resting on the back of the chair, closely resembles one of the two figures in the Pavia painting, the one standing behind the other instead sitting.
We find the same sweetness of modeling and an expressive research marked by a calm naturalism characteristic of the portraits known to us by the painter.
Surely Luigi was influenced by his brother whose ways he can remember, it is a painting which presents a clarity and a plastic relief that we do not find in Giacomo who instead stands out for his refined tonal drafting and the nuances with which he appears to compare himself with his friend Piccio.
Our painting derives its notable suggestion from the elegance , as I noticed, of the pose enhanced by the figure that emerges and stands out with great force from the neutral background. What is most enchanting is the depth of the gaze with the large, wide open and melancholy eyes fixed on the viewer. The perfect oval of the face appears to be hit by a clear light which on one side projects the shadow and on the other highlights one of the two coral earrings rendered with an enchanting optical relief. The rarefied and suspended atmosphere gives the image an extraordinary poetic relief.

Milan 7 July 2024
Prof. Fernando Mazzocca