Self-portrait with his wife and two children

Giuseppe Ciardi XIX sec. d.C.

Audio description of the artwork

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In this paper drawing, the Prato-born Giuseppe Ciardi portrays himself together with his wife and two children, engaging in an elegant conversation, most likely in a domestic setting. All this underlies the idea of family. Ciardi was particularly well known, including among his contemporary artists, not only for his skilled portraiture but also as an expert in the teaching of drawing in Prato in the mid-19th century.

Technical information

Author: Giuseppe Ciardi
Title: Self-portrait with his wife and two children
Date: XIX sec. d.C.
Material and technique: Black pencil and colored pastel on cardboard
Size: 174x141 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
Third Floor

Giuseppe Ciardi learned the fundamentals of art at the Accademia di Disegno of Luigi Nuti, an illustrious neoclassical master whom, given his abilities, Ciardi would replace in 1821, and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, becoming an honorary member in 1845. He had a very long career as a drawing teacher in Prato, specialising in figure and decoration at the Cicognini College as well as the Conservatorio di San Niccolò until 1855. Cesare Guasti was also one of his pupils in 1840.

Despite his publication of the “Corso elementare di Ornato” (An Introduction Course in Decoration) in 1847, he specialised in the portrait genre. He moved from canonical and heroic types to more intimate renderings, even favouring a refined mixed technique of lapis and watercolour. Many of his drawings are also made in pastel and charcoal or in black pencil and coloured pastels on cardboard, like the one shown here. Ciardi's other graphic works are preserved in the repositories of the municipal collections. These include several drawings (some of which featured in the 1821 Exhibition of Essays of the Prato Municipal School) and engravings.

Ciardi's best-known engraving designs are undoubtedly those for the series dedicated to the “Buffi” traditional characters from Prato, on which he collaborated with engraver Antonio Verico.