1775229289Code R114 Madonna del MareMadonna of the Sea, oil on masonite depicting a motherhood. The painting belonged to the chapel aboard the ocean liner REX and was placed above the altar, set in the wood paneling. Panel dimensions: 144 x 233 cm (56.5 x 92 in), contemporary carved and gilded wooden frame, dimensions with frame: 134 x 228 cm (52.7 x 90 in).
Painted by the painter Pietro Gaudenzi (signed lower left "Pietro Gaudenzi" and lower right "Pietro Gaudenzi Milano") in 1930.
In good condition.
Madonna del Mare, oil on masonite depicting maternity, contemporary frame in carved and gilded wood; created by the painter Pietro Gaudenzi (signed Pietro Gaudenzi on the lower left and Pietro Gaudenzi Milano on the lower right) in 1930. The painting belonged to the chapel aboard the transatlantic liner REX and was placed above the altar, set in the wood paneling.
Pietro Gaudenzi, son of Enrico Gaudenzi, a musician originally from Bergamo, and Rachele De Negri, a Genoese, was born on January 18, 1880, in Genoa.
He received his initial artistic training from the painter F. Del Santo in La Spezia; he then attended the Ligurian Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with C. Viazzi. He also worked as an art editor for the Genoese newspaper Il Lavoro. After winning several prizes awarded by the City of Genoa, in 1903 he was awarded the Duchessa di Galliera art boarding school for five years in Rome, where he moved in 1904.
There, Gaudenzi studied the Renaissance masters—especially Michelangelo and Raphael—while, among the moderns, he showed interest in G.A. Sartorio, A. Mancini, A. Spadini, and F.P. Michetti. He also contributed to the magazine Novissima and frequented F. Carena, under whose guidance he furthered his education. In Rome, he met Candida Toppi, daughter of a well-known model from Anticoli, Corrado, and a model herself. They married in 1909 and had four children. Family themes—portraits of his wife, children, and more than one Maternity—occupied much of the artist's work throughout the 1910s. In 1910, with his last work as a pensioner, I Priori, he won the gold medal from the Ministry of Education; in 1911, the canvas was presented at the Rome International Exhibition and was purchased by the City Council for the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna.
This period marked the beginning of a series of successes, which led Gaudenzi to win the gold medal at the Munich Exhibition in 1913 for his Torso of a Young Woman and, two years later, in Milan, the Prince Umberto Prize for his Deposition (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna). In 1916, he distinguished himself at the exhibition of the Society of Amateurs and Cultivators of Rome with the painting Affetti (Rome, Municipal Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art), where he presided over the opening ceremony. He was appointed professor emeritus of the academies of Genoa and Parma. Widowed, Gaudenzi settled in Milan, where he lived throughout the 1920s and for part of the 1930s. His Milanese period also includes the work Madonna del Mare, which was housed in the chapel on board the ocean liner REX.
The REX ocean liner, built in just 15 months, was launched on August 1, 1931, in the presence of 200,000 people. It was built at the Ansaldo factories in Genoa, founded in 1846 by Camillo di Cavour. In 1930, they employed 13,000 workers and 1,500 office staff. They were the largest and most comprehensive organization in the world, capable of designing and building in their own workshops, using their own materials and labor, the largest and most powerful military and merchant ships, complete with engines and all auxiliary equipment. They also produced electrical machines of all types, steam and electric locomotives, railway carriages, and cutting-edge metallurgical products. They also produced cars, tanks, submarines, artillery, projectiles, torpedo launchers, and precision optical and electronic equipment. It was the largest ship built in Italy before World War II. It accommodated 2,032 passengers and 850 crew members in maximum comfort, with air-conditioned cabins equipped with telephones. On board were two swimming pools, gyms, a cinema and theater, a library with 2,000 volumes, a photography studio, a parish church, spas and physiotherapy, and several shops. The 500-square-meter Baroque-style ballroom featured a 170-square-meter kilim carpet handcrafted in Anatolia. The excellent catering for all classes served 8,700 meals daily, with a 12-course menu in first class. The REX was the first Italian liner to be used for cruises, and was equipped with air conditioning. From 1931 to 1940, it was a protagonist of Italian and international life, carrying the most important passengers of the time: kings, nobles, clergymen, politicians, poets, singers, musicians, and hundreds of thousands of people. On March 16, 1933, the first intercontinental radio broadcast was broadcast from the powerful radio station aboard the Rex, transmitted live to America and Europe. Millions of people listened to Schubert's Ave Maria sung by soprano Rosa Ponselle on the occasion of the Holy Year.
On August 16, 1933, sailing the 3,129 miles from Gibraltar to the New York lightship in 4 days, 13 hours, and 58 minutes, she won the Blue Riband, the coveted trophy for the fastest Atlantic crossing, snatching the record from the German liners "Bremen" and "Europa." She was the only Italian ship to achieve this feat, entering world naval history and reviving the excellence and quality of Italian shipbuilding. Between 1933 and 1940, she enabled approximately 50,000 Jews to leave Europe for the United States, becoming the "Ship of Salvation." Racial laws were suspended on board, and a rabbi and a kosher cook were permanently on duty. On March 6, 2024, the REX crew was inducted into the Garden of the Righteous Worldwide in Milan with a commemorative ceremony at Monte Stella. In May 1940, its transatlantic service ended because the crossings had become dangerous. With Italy's entry into the war, to save it from the bombing of Genoa, it was transferred to the port of Trieste, making its only voyage in the Adriatic, with shielded lights rather than the bright ones dreamed of by director Fellini in the film Amarcord. On September 8, 1944, the REX was moved from the port of Trieste to avoid the British bombing of the city. Under tow between Izola and Koper, it ran aground near the shore. Located by the British RAF, it was attacked by bomber squadrons. The futile attack caused the ship to list and sink on its port side and a violent fire on board that lasted four days. After the war, the wreck remained in the Yugoslavian area and was dismantled to recover the metals it was made of.
