A young friar, caught in a moment of silence and abandon, becomes the protagonist of an intimate and suspended image. The bowed face and hands clutching a book suggest meditation, study or prayer; the soft and concentrated light caresses the features, leaving the background in a vibrant penumbra, built from loose and atmospheric brushstrokes.
The title recalls the popular Neapolitan figure of the "monaciello", a presence halfway between devotion and urban myth: a symbol of the city in which the sacred and the everyday coexist. At the bottom appear the signature and date - "V. Irolli" and "6-1947" - together with an inscription with an almost programmatic tone: "not sold for its own sake...", as if to reiterate that the image is not a simple pictorial exercise, but a story and feeling, memory and meaning. A painting that combines tenderness and mystery, transforming a small character into a visual poem.
Canvas: cm 76 × 76
Frame: cm 98 × 98
Every painting in our Gallery is sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by an Expert of the Court and the CCIAA of Genoa.
