Provenance:
-Goupil et Cie, New York
-Thomas McLean, London
-Mitchell Galleries, London (1944)
-W M Lord, Lancashire, by whom purchased from the above 12th April 1945
-MacConnal Mason, 2001
-Private Collection to 2007

Literature:
-Apollo Magazine, November 1944

Living in Rome, Capobianchi worked at in heart of Italy's atistic circles at a time when Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931) was at his most influential. Boldini painted scenes of the Italian high-life, with young ladies of society going to balls or promenading through the parks of Rome and his work profoundly influenced Capobianchi, as it did a generation of genre painters all across Europe and America including John Singer Sargent. Capobianchi became renowned for his paintings of beautiful bourgouis women going about their everyday lives, viewing the lastest couture or chosing perfume. In 'The Music Shop' for example, two elegantly dressed ladies examine and play instruments.

The son of an artisan, Capobianchi did not confine himself to only painting the high-life and often painted the traders themselves, subjects closer to his own upbringing. The "Pompeian antique dealer" of 1880 for example or the "Carpet Shop" of 1882. In 'The Music Shop', the instrument makers themselves are depicted in the background sat over a workbench.

Capobianchi's preferred to paint on relatively small mahogany panels instead of canvas and therefore work is exquisitly detailed, yet uvcontrived and painterly. This differs from the work of his contemporaries such as Vittorio Reggianini (1858-c.1895) and Giovanni Battista Torriglia (1857-1937) who worked in a much more graphic style. He is celebrated for painting with a naturalness and freedom beyond that of many of his contemporaries.

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