Art expert Michel Schulman has authenticated a previously unknown painting by Edgar Degas dating from the artist's Italian period between 1856 and 1860. The work, titled "Young Italian Woman - Presumed Portrait of the Countess of Castiglione," has been added to the digital catalogue raisonné of Edgar Degas created by Schulman and is currently held in a private collection.
The portrait, painted around 1858-1859, is notably large in scale at 153 x 105 cm. The composition depicts a young woman seated at the center of the canvas in modest attire, appearing to be in contemplation. While the figure is bathed in light, the surrounding décor is shrouded in relative darkness, with crossed sabers visible on the background wall suggesting the setting might be a fencing room.
Schulman collaborated with the Emmebi Diagnostica Artistica laboratory in Rome and the University of Bologna to authenticate the painting. The stylistic analysis of the signature, examination of the canvas, and study of the frame all support the attribution to Degas. The painting's sketchy execution marks Degas's transition toward modernity as he prepared to return to Paris from his Italian sojourn.
The work originates from the Antonio La Rocca collection, assembled between 1940 and 1970, which gathered paintings by Italian artists working in Paris. For Schulman, this provenance provides additional evidence supporting the work's authenticity. The painting was previously unknown to art historians and represents a significant addition to Degas's documented oeuvre from his formative Italian period.
While the attribution to Degas appears credible, the identification of the subject as the Countess of Castiglione remains less certain. Very few clues definitively indicate that the subject is Virginia Oldoini, born in 1837, who became known as the Countess of Castiglione. This Italian aristocrat was sent to France in 1855 to advocate for Italy's cause with Napoleon III, subsequently becoming his mistress until she fell from favor and departed for Turin between 1858 and 1861.
It was during this Turin period that she could have encountered Degas, who was staying in the same city at the time. One intriguing detail in the painting shows the young woman with what appears to be "digitus rigidus" or a rigid index finger, a characteristic that can be observed in several photographs of Virginia Oldoini taken by Pierre-Louis Pierson. Their collaboration resulted in more than 500 photographs, making her the most photographed woman in Paris at the time.
It's entirely possible that Degas drew inspiration from one of these photographs when creating the portrait. If the subject is indeed Virginia Oldoini, this would represent one of the few portraits from her youth and among the rare unofficial depictions of the famous beauty. According to Schulman, this is a psychological portrait rather than merely a physical likeness, which may explain why the setting appears to be a fencing room.
During his travels through Naples, Rome, and other parts of Italy, Degas created several paintings, most of which were Italian-style full-length or bust portraits, as well as family portraits such as the famous "The Bellelli Family." This newly authenticated work adds to our understanding of Degas's artistic development during this crucial formative period when he was absorbing Italian artistic traditions while developing his own modern approach.
Schulman had previously authenticated another Degas work in 2024, a pastel titled "In Praise of Makeup," demonstrating his ongoing research into the artist's lesser-known works. The authentication of this Italian period painting provides valuable insight into Degas's early career and his evolution as one of the most important artists of the 19th century.
