Juliet's House in Verona will host the rediscovered painting by the Venetian painter Cosroe Dusi 'Juliet and Romeo', from 1838, which depicts the nocturnal meeting of the two lovers in the home of the young Capulet.
Long thought missing, and only recently found, the painting was purchased as part of a project to reorganize the House, where it will be permanently exhibited, enriching the visit itinerary of the museum complex.
The painting, large in size (oil on canvas, 218 x 164 cm) and in perfect condition, depicts Romeo embracing Juliet and looking at her in the intimate space of a balcony or loggia.
Their clothing goes from bright red for Romeo's dress to white for Juliet's.
Dusi, in those years, was broadening his artistic horizons to romantic history painting, updating his style in the direction of Francesco Hayez's experience.
After a stay in Munich, where he had achieved some success as an author of portraits, Dusi returned to his homeland, where in 1838 he held an exhibition in the rooms of the Academy of Venice to celebrate the visit of the Emperor of Austria Ferdinand I. Romeo and Juliet was it was carried out on commission from Count Francesco Gualdo of Vicenza;
the gold leaf frame came from Milan.
The subsequent fate of the canvas is not currently known, it probably became part of the collection of the Contevicentino, a member of one of the most noble families of the city, and therefore most likely passed onto the antiques market, following the sale of the collection after the mid-nineteenth century. .
The work will be presented in the so-called Ballroom, next to the stage costumes by Danilo Donati for Zeffirelli's 1968 film and in dialogue with Pietro Roi's work 'Giulietta' from 1882. The two nineteenth-century masterpieces mark the first stage of a new exhibition project, led by the director of the Civic Museums of Verona, Francesca Rossi, and conceived with Fausta Piccoli, curator of Juliet's House.
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