Livorno Marina with the Magnale Tower

Gaetano Bellei (Modena, 1857-1922) “Livorno Marina”, 1893 The Magnale Tower is distinctly depicted. Signed and located at the bottom left: “Bellei.G Livorno 1 8 93 On the back: “Rua Muro”- Bellei Oil on panel cm 24 x 34 Provenance: Genoa, Private Collection Modena, Private Collection Modena,  Mrs. Iole Parmeggiani  Bellei Bibliography: Society of Encouragement for the artists of the Province of Modena year CXVI, Exhibition of Gaetano  Bellei, Modena,  Palazzo dei Musei - Sala della Cultura  4 – 19 June 1960, pag.15 n.7 In the last decade of the century, a pictorial phase dates back that Bellei intended with free brushstrokes on an impeccable drawing frame; this is the case of this oil with pointillisme effects that restore the light vibrations on the shiny surface of the sea. The painter, alongside the more accredited activity, continued his research  in landscape studies, where he approached, both  the ways of the Macchiaioli, and divisionist theories, in a process of dematerialization of the pictorial substance, where the lean painting allows the veins of the tablet wood to show through. The Magnale Tower or Red Tower, erected in the 12th century, is depicted. The octagonal building was built by the will of the Republic of Pisa, to mark the access to the port and having the function of a defensive bastion, in an era in which war expeditions and trade animated the Mediterranean.