Portret van schrijver, dichter en acteur Vittorio Alfieri 19th century

This is Roberto Vatori's portrait of Vittorio Alfieri, the renowned 18th-century Italian dramatist, poet, and writer. Alfieri, a nobleman by birth, lived through a period of immense social and political upheaval. His identity was shaped by the aristocratic world into which he was born, as well as by the philosophical and revolutionary ideas that swept through Europe during his lifetime. Alfieri, however, refused to perform plays for monarchs, because he believed that would corrupt them. He was deeply committed to the ideals of liberty and self-determination, reflecting a broader cultural movement that questioned traditional forms of power and authority. Here, we see the playwright in profile, with penetrating eyes. The portrait captures his intellectual intensity and the emotional depth that characterized his tragic plays, but the image is also framed by the conventions of portraiture for elites. It presents Alfieri as a figure of authority and intellect while hinting at the tensions within him as an artist and a nobleman grappling with the revolutionary spirit of his era.