Girl in White

The portrait of "Giovinetta in bianco" belonged to the art critic Margherita Sarfatti, who described it: "Also from that year is this delicate and ineffable portrait of a girl, belonging to the Sarfatti collection. Painted in white-gray and gray-black hues, this large, trembling image of a feverish young girl, who died of consumption shortly afterwards, depicts her in her dying state. Yet it is not gloomy—dreamy and delicate, she has the appearance of a blonde queen from a fairytale, an exquisite, beloved girl from a dream."

The high pictorial quality distinguishes the piece; in fact, Ranzoni uses color to evoke a subtle sense of atmosphere. It dominates the painting, which exemplifies Ranzoni's final method: a painting of ultra-light and exceptionally fine textures, as if a filter has been applied to blend the color tones and soften the contours without reducing the solidity of the figure that emerges. Instead, it serves to assert the sense of space and depth.