Théodore VALÉRIO (1819 1879)
YOUNG MONTENEGRIN GIRLS COMING TO DRAW WATER FROM THE CISTERNS OF CETTIGNÉ, 1878.
Oil on canvas, signed lower right and dated.
74 x 110 cm.

Origin:
- Sale Valério, February 12, 1880, n°13.
- Former collection Desvaux de Lyf

Exhibition: Salon of 1878.
Cetinje, a city in Montenegro, owes its name to the nearby Cetina River. Its cultural heritage makes it the country's historic capital, which is why it is often referred to as the capital of the throne (in Montenegro, prestonica). At the back of our painting, we can see the foothills of Mount Lovcen.
Originally from Herserange en Meurthe et Moselle, Théodore VALERIO was Nicolas
Charlet's student. He started at the 1838 Salon and obtained a 3rd class medal in 1859.
He travelled to Europe and the Balkans where he made an extended stay. During the Crimean War, he joined Omer Pasha's Turkish army. He brought back watercolours and many sketches, which he undertook to have engraved on his return to Paris.
Theodore Valério ended his career in Brittany.