(This postcard is part of a vast collection amassed by an artist it over sixty years ago and stored it in a wooden box)
Il Porto di Como (The Port of Como), painted by the Italian artist Angelo Inganni (1807-1880), best known for his finely detailed vedute and genre scenes of nineteenth‑century Lombardy.
Inganni was born in Brescia and moved to Milan in 1833, where he worked mainly in the city and nearby lakes and towns.
Painted around 1848, the picture depicts a busy harbor scene on Lake Como in Italy, with a paddle steamer and many small boats. It features the historic steamship Lariano, and captures the atmosphere of the port during the time of the first Italian War of Independence (1848-1870).
Inganni painted street views, river and lake fronts, and everyday urban life in cities like Milan and Como. The pictured harbor fit this subject range and period.
He was trained in the academic tradition but drawn to modern subject matter. Audiences admired the immediacy of his scenes: the vendors, carriages, shopfronts and fashionable promenades that offer a lively view of civic life.
Inganni combined crisp draughtsmanship with clear, luminous color. His paintings appear to be documentary records, as well as attractive works of art.
He produced oils, watercolors, and lithographs, and his prints helped spread his images beyond local patrons.
Street, Markets and River Fronts
Inganni recorded urban life with a careful eye for architecture, costume, and the small dramas of everyday existence. His compositions range from bustling street views and market scenes to quieter river fronts and domestic interiors.
Throughout his career Inganni exhibited regularly and received civic commissions. His work appears in regional museums and private collections across Italy.
Inganni died in Gussago in 1880.
His work is currently shown at Museo delle Culture – MUDEC in Milan.
Angelo Inganni’s work realized prices of up to 220,916 USD for paintings, and 3,450 USD for works on papers atu auction.
The record price, 220,916 USD, was for Veduta di Piazza del Duomo con il Coperto dei Figini (View of Piazza del Duomo with the Coperto dei Figini), sold at Il Ponte Casa D’Aste in Milan in 2014.
(Research and drafts were assisted by AI; final content was written and verified by the author)
Sources: Galleria Berardi, Wikipedia
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