Why it matters
Unhappy with his first oil portrait of Verdi, Boldini made this pastel in just five hours on 9 April 1886. It is now in Rome.
Did you know?
- Verdi was in Paris to hear the baritone chosen for Iago in Otello.
- Boldini showed it at the 1889 Exposition Universelle.
- He gave it to the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome in 1918.
Based on the Wikipedia article Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
