3-028-141 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"The Letter," by H. P. Riviere, in the Exhibition of the Society of Painters in Water Colours, 1869. Engraving of a painting. 'To one of those scenes at a fountain so characteristic of the "sunny South," and which, therefore, supply favourite subjects for pictorial treatment, we have here added the incident of the reading of a letter - a love-letter in all probability. A work of art should always leave something to the fancy; and so here the painter does not distinctly tell us whether the letter belongs to one of those two pretty girls, or to the youth who possesses the accomplishment, uncommon enough among the Italian peasantry, of being able to read. For our part, we are disposed to think that one of the girls has made a confidant of their scholarly acquaintance. Be this as it may, the purport of the letter is serious and affectionate, judging by the grave, and, in the case of one especially of the girls, the tender, interest felt in its perusal'. From "Illustrated London News", 1869.