Young Girl on a Red Carpet, ca. 1912

Before the First World War Felice Casorati still painted in the symbolist style. During the war he was influenced by new movements such as metaphysical painting, Futurism and Cubism. From the start of the 1920s he still preferred to paint simple subjects and still-lives in an austere, abstract style. The painting Young Girl on a Red Carpet is a good example of the artist’s symbolist period. The model for the painting was Ada, the oldest daughter of the painter Attilio Trentini. There is a photo of her standing in a similar pose and it was undoubtedly this that inspired Casorati. The bird’s-eye view emphasises the distance between the spectator and the girl, who has withdrawn into her own world. The objects around her refer to her past childhood years and the unknown years of adulthood which lie ahead. The light striking the carpet subtly suggests the outside world. The strange combination of red and violet-blue enhances the symbolic nature of the painting.