# Meditation on the History of Italy [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [HAYEZ, Francesco]() - Date: 1801-1850 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 90 x 70 cm ## Commentary The darkened glance of the beauty in this painting is not really directed at the viewer. She is sunk in thought, looking out of the canvas in a pre-occupied way. In her right hand she holds a folio bearing the words "Storia d'Italia", this is to say a symbol of knowledge. Her left hand holds the symbol of faith, the Cross, that has played so great a part in Italy's history. Her naked breast is highly provocative when seen with the black cross of mourning. She is perhaps the allegory of Italy in the 19th century, and the gaze with which this figure of "Italia" confronts the viewer creates a suggestive, almost hypnotic effect. She seems to be in a state between waking and dreaming. This is meditation that has not yet reached a solution, meditation in which grief predominates. ## Related artworks - [Carolina Zucchi]() - [Crusaders Thirsting near Jerusalem]() - [Flowers]() - [Mercury Gives Paris the Apple of Discord]() - [Odalisque]() - [Portrait of Alessandro Manzoni]() - [Portrait of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli \(detail\)]() - [Portrait of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli]() - [Portrait of Signora Matilde Branca]() - [Portrait of Teresa Barri Stampa]() - [Rinaldo and Armida]() - [Self-Portrait in a Group of Friends \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()