Old painting, school of G. Francesco Cipper, 18th century

Oil on canvas. The painting style and subject recall the work of Giacomo Francesco Cipper, known as Todeschini, an artist of Austrian origin based in Milan. He specialised in market scenes, open-air concerts, card players, and scenes of humble daily life, rendered with a playful caricature and a search for comic effect. This work, for example, depicts a common man biting into a chicken thigh: despite the evident poverty of his clothing, the man appears joyful and playful, representing not desolation but the vitality and enjoyment of daily life, even in poverty. Cipper's characters, though humble, are characterised by a cheeky nature, manifested by their fixed gazes towards the viewer, drawing attention. The canvas was mounted on cardboard at the end of the 19th century, restored, and framed in gilded pastiglia. It currently requires cleaning.