Umberto Coromaldi (1870–1948) - Ritratto di borghese dell'ottocento

Umberto Coromaldi (Rome, 1870 – 1948), a well-known exponent of the Roman School, famous for his portraits and realist landscapes. The painting depicts the three-quarter bust of a mature man with a distinguished appearance, characterized by thick white sideburns (long whiskers typical of nineteenth-century fashion), dressed in a dark jacket and white shirt with a bow tie. The work bears the artist's signature visible in the upper left.

The details of the attire — the formal-cut dark jacket, the white shirt with a stiff collar and the dark bow tie — together with the proud posture and the austere gaze, clearly indicate a man belonging to the upper-middle bourgeoisie, a professional (such as a lawyer, a doctor, or a teacher) or a government official of the era. A man tied to the Roman milieu, Umberto Coromaldi lived and worked mainly in Rome, becoming president of the National Academy of Saint Luke. It is highly probable that the model was a Roman citizen, an acquaintance of the painter, or a member of the same intellectual and academic circle as the artist.