Information
65 x 81 cm
signed lower right: L. Balestrieri
on the back, on the frame, ancient handwritten label with the title of the work.
The present painting is inspired by Émile Zola's novel The Opera, from 1886. In the novel the protagonist Claude Lantier, who had already appeared in one of Zola's most famous works, L'Assomoir, fights, in general incomprehension and to a tragic end, for an art different from the academic one. This is probably a reference to the Impressionists, still supported by Zola, who in fact did not appreciate the novel.