From: Gabriella Alu'
<ga b  rilu@neomedia.it> 
Monday, March 8, 2004

 . .  notice how you can see, in the  photo of this painting, Franca Florio's skirt is longer than in the other portrait of your page and the dress is not the same, it seems to me. This is because this is the second version of the portrait. As a matter of fact,  Ignazio Florio (Franca's husband)  considered the first portrait too sensual and provocative and  he wanted that Boldini make the skirt longer..

But I don't know who the owner of this second portrait is or where it is  now...

I found this information (that here in Palermo everybody knows)  in two Italian books:

- Salvatore Requirez "CASA FLORIO", Flaccovio Editore, Palermo, 1998

- Anna Pomar "FRANCA FLORIO", edizioni Novecento, Palermo, 2002.
 

(Editor's Note - I wonder if the image in the photo is flipped when it went to print in the book?)
 
 
 

Notes
Special thanks to Gabriella Alu'  of Palermo, Italy, a friend of the JSS Gallery, for passing along all this information.
 

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