Children Blowing Bubbles
1906
Two barefoot boys are completely absorbed in the simple magic of soap bubbles in this charming 1906 scene by Giulio del Torre. The boy on the right, sporting a jacket full of patches, carefully blows a delicate sphere while his friend holds a large terracotta basin of soapy water. The artist painted this with such precise realism that you can almost feel the damp street air of Venice, right down to the discarded soap wrapper on the ground. Interestingly, the German title 'Seifenblasende Kinder' hints that this was likely created for the lucrative Northern European market, where collectors loved these sentimental glimpses of everyday life.