Portrait of a girl with her toys was executed in Italy around 1870-1880s and due to very close manner was attributed to the hand of famous Italian painter Antonio Mancini ( 1852 Albano Laziale - 1930 Rome).
At the age of twelve, Mancini was admitted to the Institute of Fine Arts in Naples, where he studied under Domenico Morelli (1823–1901), a painter of historical scenes who favored dramatic chiaroscuro and vigorous brushwork, and Filippo Palizzi.
Mancini developed quickly under their guidance, and in 1872, he exhibited two paintings at the Paris Salon.

Mancini worked at the forefront of the Verismo movement, an indigenous Italian response to 19th-century Realist aesthetics. His usual subjects included children of the poor, juvenile circus performers, and musicians he observed in the streets of Naples. His portrait of a young acrobat in Il Saltimbanco (1877–78) captures the fragility of the boy whose impoverished childhood is spent entertaining pedestrian crowds.

While in Paris in the 1870s, Mancini met the Impressionist painters Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet. He became friends with John Singer Sargent, who famously pronounced him to be the greatest living painter. His mature works show a brightened palette with a striking impasto technique on canvas and a bold command of pastels on paper.

In 1881, Mancini suffered a disabling mental illness. He settled in Rome in 1883 for twenty years, then moved to Frascati where he lived until 1918. During this period of Mancini's life, he was often destitute and relied on the help of friends and art buyers to survive. After the First World War, his living situation stabilized and he achieved a new level of serenity in his work. Mancini died in Rome in 1930 and was buried in the Basilica Santi Bonifacio e Alessio on the Aventine Hill.

Provenance: Italian private estate in Lazio area, due to the inscription on the back of the original frame: ”Annibaldi ”, one of previous owners,  probably, were descendants  of famous Italian noble family Annibaldi.

Inscription: on the backside of the frame.

Technique: oil on canvas, painted in oval, original period gilt frame.

Measurements: w. 14 7/8” x h 18 1/4” (38 x 46,5 cm); framed w. 23 2/3” x h 27” (60 x 68,5 cm).

Condition: very good.