La Mamma di Falco

Eugene de Blaas (1843-1931) - A Young Beauty (1882) Oil on panel.

I imagine Falco's mother would look something like this... a few years before he was born.

Eugene de Blaas was born in Rome of Austrian parents. The family moved to Venice, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when father Karl became a professor at the Venice Academy. Consequently, Eugene studied under his father and Venetian masters, and became an expert of the "Venetian genre" - meaning art aimed at the wealthy upper-class tourists flooding the city. Today, his art may be viewed as quaint and picturesque; he depicted idealized townsfolk and street life, preferably beautiful young women in various everyday activities. He became very popular, especially in Britain, and became a professor at the Academy like his father.