Bartolomeo Pinelli

A young waiter enters the dining room, precariously balancing a stack of steaming plates. Including himself and his two dogs at the head of the table at left, Bartolomeo Pinelli subtly blends fantasy and reality in this busy restaurant scene. His humorous approach in depicting everyday pleasures is suggested by the notice on the wall on the far left, which reads “In questa stanza si mangia di magro” (In this room no meat is eaten)-a reference to the custom of eating frugally on the eve of religious feast days. If this is a day of fasting, nobody in the trattoria seems to be taking much notice of it.

Through hundreds of published etchings Bartolomeo Pinelli depicted the daily activities and unique costumes of Italy’s peasant and working classes, including the people of his native district of Trastevere in Rome. His prints, often humorous, were popular souvenirs for tourists. In this restaurant scene, Pinelli pokes fun at the attire of his tourist clients with an array of fashionable hats adorning the walls. The artist himself sits at the head of the table on the left, accompanied by his two pet mastiffs. This drawing shows the simple linear style that Pinelli used in all of his etchings and illustrations, easily legible and appealing both to fans of Neoclassical art and to less sophisticated viewers.