15 03 ‘ 2022   museomag 
A REJUVENATED   
“POETIC CREATION”  (1/2) 
A NEW ATTRIBUTION FOR PAOLO AND FRANCESCA 
© 
éric 
chenal 
Tito Angelini (Naples, 1806-1878), Paolo and Francesca, 1857-60. White marble, 73 x 70 x 42 cm. Collection MNHA Luxembourg. 
The work of great masters often carries a heavy price 
tag. If, as a museum, you do not have such big names in 
your collection from the start, or later in history through 
donations or long-term loans, the developments in the 
art market tend to make it increasingly challenging to 
make up for that later. The caretakers of the Luxem- 
bourg national art collection were therefore overjoyed 
when, in 1939, they received a marble sculpture of two 
figures seated together, dated to c.1790 and attributed 
to Antonio Canova (1757-1822), the great sculptor of 
neo-classicism. The seated couple are Francesca da 
Rimini (c.1255-c.1285) and her brother-in-law Paolo 
Malatesta (c.1246/48-c.1285), embracing each other 
while reading. Both were married, but they fell in love. 
When Paolo’s elder brother Gianciotto found out about 
the affair, he killed his wife and brother with a dagger. 
The tragic adulterous story was told by Dante 
Alighieri in his Divine Comedy (1320) and became a 
popular subject with artists and writers, especially in 
the second half of the 19th century. 
NOT EVERY GREAT MASTER IS   
A “BIG NAME” 
The sculpture was donated by Maurice Schmitz (1882- 
1968), a Luxembourg resident and then president of 
the Société des Amis des Musées de Luxembourg. 
The figures’ appearance and clothing – note Paolo’s 
hairdo in particular – point to the second half of the 
19th century; a period long after the death of the great 
master himself, which may have been noticed by our 
colleagues of that era too. But a certain professor Ren- 
zo Canneli of Florence had authenticated the work as 
an original by Canova, and perhaps they didn’t want 
to look a gift horse in the mouth too much. Maybe it 
was not the most exemplary Canova, but it was a very 
nice sculpture all the same. Then as now, the MNHA 
collects focused entirely on the intrinsic qualities of art 
works, instead of targeting the big names, for which we 
do not have the budgets anyway. It is always rewarding 
to find pieces that enrich the international art collec- 
tion of Luxembourg and make the story of art that we 
FINE ARTS