To my children
Portrait of an elderly woman, datable to the years of transition between the 19th and 20th centuries, the work of the Bavarian painter Theodor Feucht (1867-1944), active in the Italian-speaking territories of the Austrian Empire.
The dedication "To my children" is on the book in the protagonist's hands.
Her age is more than mature, and the signs of senility are rendered by the painter with graceful realism; the woman belongs to the world of the Venetian mountains, she belongs to a popular but not poor class, as suggested by the fabrics and the cap with ruffles and long silk bands, slightly worn at the point where they are knotted to make the frill.
The realistic style of the portrait lies in the serious and stark, completely mountain-like interpretation that the elderly woman gives to her role as a mother as she poses for her children.
Oil on canvas, 89 x 74 cm, fir frame in natural patina, original from the period.