Gino Severini (1883-1966)

Pulcinella con il violino is a study for Severini's frescoes decorating the Salottino of Castello di Montegufoni, a Tuscan Renaissance castle near Florence, which was purchased by Sir George Sitwell in 1909 for his son, Osbert. An active member of the literary and artistic circles in London, Osbert commissioned the frescoes from Severini in April 1921. Their subject matter is mostly based on the Commedia dell'Arte, particularly popular in Britain in the 1920s, and one of whose main characters is Pulcinella.