The Exhibition “Il Teatro del Quotidiano”

At the Buonconsiglio Castle, the paintings of Giacomo Francesco Cipper

Visiting the Giacomo Francesco Cipper exhibition at the Castello del Buonconsiglio, in Trento, means returning to early eighteenth-century Milan, means entering the buzz of a village market, amid shouts coming from a tavern, or sitting at a table set with wheel fiddles playing in the background. You don’t just see paintings, you meet people. Painted, two-dimensional, but real.

Until 14 September 2025, the Castle hosts “Il teatro del quotidiano” (Theatre of the Everyday), an exhibition that investigates the figure of Giacomo Francesco Cipper, commonly known as “Todeschini”, an artist who was active mainly in Milan between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century.

Alongside Cipper’s large and very large works, the Buonconsiglio Castle hosts paintings by other Lombard painters of the period, such as Felice Boselli, Giacomo Ceruti and Il Maestro della Tela Jeans. The exhibition is enriched by objects such as swords, musical instruments and alms boxes, which help visitors to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the early eighteenth century.

HEADER: Giacomo Francesco Cipper, Filatrice, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
BELOW: Giacomo Francesco Cipper, Colazione di pitocchi con vecchio suonatore di gironda, Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, Brescia

An exhibition on the painter of truth

The exhibition, curated by Maria Silvia Proni and Denis Ton, highlights Francesco Cipper's ability to narrate the reality of his time, so much so as to make his approach to reality similar to that of a modern-day “documentarian”.

The artist does not portray aristocrats, high prelates or sacred figures, but tells the story of the lives of the last, those who crowded the streets and taverns of Lombardy at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The so-called “pitocchi” (beggars). In Cipper’s paintings, however, there is no compassion or pity; indeed, one gets the impression that the artist sits at the table with them, inviting the observer to join the company.

This impression is reinforced by the fact that the subjects in Todeschino’s paintings turn towards the observer with a cheerful and mocking expression, giving the viewer the impression of being able to become part of the painting.

As in the work Pranzo con flautista (Luncheon with a Flutist) (circa 1720), where the little beggar girl dressed in rags is not turned towards the table but is looking at you, who are observing her face from centuries away.

BELOW: Giacomo Francesco Cipper, Pranzo con flautista, Galerie Canesso, Milano

Todeschini’s attention to detail

What makes Cipper’s paintings true documents of his time is the maniacal attention to detail, which is never left to chance.

An example is given by the work La carità (Charity) (1715), where a young woman with a child asks for charity, showing a parchment. This Is a “beggary license”, which was mandatory at that time in order to be able to ask for alms. With this detail, the artist offers us a glimpse of the reality of the time.

In other cases, the details give rise to questions for which we do not have answers. The painting Un muratore e un ciabattino (A Bricklayer and a Cobbler) depicts a man holding a bricklayer’s spatula. Yet, if we look closely at the man’s clothing, we discover that he does not look like a laborer, and if we look carefully, we see that he has at his side a small sword with a broken guard. Who is that man? A nobleman fallen from grace? A deserter soldier who pretends to be a laborer to escape capture? We will never know.

BELOW: Giacomo Francesco Cipper, Un muratore e un ciabattino, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orléans

The Painter of Music

Another feature that allows Cipper’s paintings to go beyond two-dimensionality is the almost constant presence of music. Whether it is a country table or a tavern scene, there is always someone in the background playing an instrument of the period, a wheel fiddle, a zither or a lute.

Looking at works such as Giovane coppia di contadini con musici (Young Peasant Couple with Musicians), one almost has the impression of hearing the sound of music, that provides background to words, shouts and laughter.

And when you leave the Castle after visiting the exhibition, it takes a while to get used to the sounds of a 21st century city again.

BELOW: Giacomo Francesco Cipper, Giovane coppia di contadini con musici, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest