Francesco Hayez
Portrait of Teresa Manzoni Stampa Borri
From $100
This painting is black, warm brown and soft gold light, and a cheap copy turns it flat and muddy. Our Hayez Manzoni print is made from the museum’s own photograph, unretouched, so the face stays alive.
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
12x16 inch, 18x24 inch, 30x40 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
Its tall shape suits a study, a hallway or a living room wall. The blacks, browns and golds look rich with cream, slate and walnut, and a gold or black frame suits it.
About the painting
Francesco Hayez, a Venetian fisherman’s son, became the leading Romantic painter of Milan and the painter of Italy’s struggle for unity.
Italy’s great novelist sits relaxed, legs crossed, a faint smile on his lips. In his hand is not his famous book but a simple snuffbox.
His wife Teresa wanted him painted as he was at home. Hayez finished it on 26 June 1841, after fifteen sittings.
A man in a black coat and a white shirt sits in a chair, legs crossed, his head bowed a little, a faint smile on his thin lips. He seems lost in thought, relaxed and at ease. In his hand he holds a small snuffbox.
He is Alessandro Manzoni, the Italian writer, the author of the great novel The Betrothed.
An earlier painter had shown him standing, holding a copy of his novel, with Lake Como behind him, a writer looking inspired. But his second wife, Teresa, wanted something different. She wanted to remember him as he really was at home. So Francesco Hayez took everything away: no book, no lake, no scenery. Just a man in a chair, against a plain, softly glowing background, holding his snuffbox.
Manzoni sat for him fifteen times. Hayez finished the portrait on the twenty-sixth of June 1841, and it was a great success, both in the family and in Milan. Hayez himself liked to take distinguished visitors to see it.
In 1900 Teresa's son, Stefano Stampa, gave it to the Brera gallery in Milan, together with Hayez's portrait of his mother.
Portrait of Alessandro Manzoni. Francesco Hayez, 1841.
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.