Pilgrim Allowing to Kiss a Relic

The work is from the Charity of Capuchin Monks series. The first version of the work titled Eremita che fa bagiare una Reliquia was performed by Pinelli in 1809 for the album Raccolta di Cinquanta Costumi Pittoreschi incisi di acqua forte (Collection of Fifty Picturesque Costumes) published in 1809. The engraving from the Lviv collection shows no urban landscape in the background. However, the characters are performed more confidently. The author emphasises the strict profile of the monk and the trust of the children and their mothers, and, at the same time, the scepticism of the boy with a basket on the left. Behind the monk on the podium, there is a cross with instruments of Christ's sufferings. The primary focus is riveted on a girl kissing the image given to her by the monk. The simple and fast drawing is painted with contrasting watercolours; the artist actively used brown and light grey paints in the centre of the work; the clothing of the figures to the right and left of the monk is painted in bright colours.
Capuchin Monks or The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capucinorum) is a Catholic order that separated from the Franciscans in the 16th century. The Capuchins were characterised by charity and asceticism. Their clothing consisted of a brown soutane with a hood sewn to it, a rope with a knot on the belt (a symbol of the inviolability of vows), and sandals worn on their bare feet.

In the lower left corner, there is the author's signature Pinelli f. [fecit]. In the centre of the engraving, under the image, is the title of the work, Eremita che fa bagiare una Reliquia. The number "21" is in the upper right corner of the engraving above the plate.

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery