I discovered the pre-Raphaelite pictorial movement during my first visit to the UK, many years ago. In Italy they were not very well known, but all the 15th century painting was familiar to me and I found the colours, figures, themes and fell in love with it.   Recently several exhibitions have also been held in Italian cities and in one of these I discovered a painting by James Collison, entitled “The empty purse”.                                                                                                                

Collison was not one of the most representative painters of this style, but he was initially attracted to the devotional and high church aspects of Pre-Raphaelitism. He later left the group and dedicated himself to genre painting, frequently depicting pretty women in situations that suggest moral temptation.

The young woman of the painting is visiting a bazar full of attracting objects to buy, but her empty purse prevents her from doing so, thus she casts an almost challenging look at the person observing the painting and perhaps for this reason on the Tate website, which owns the painting, she is identified as a prostitute: a reading that I do not agree with.

Among the many objects on sale there is also a small scent bottle in powder pink opaline, of the type that collectors call “Grand Tour” because the cap often contains a small image on paper of a monument in Paris. The painting is dated around 1857 and this exactly places the production period of these small bottles, produced in many colours and in large quantities, which from France travelled around the world as souvenirs. I own many of them in my collection, some very simple, as the one in the paitings, and other more ornate ones.