English: Roberto Fontana (Italian, 1844-1907), Aesop Narrates his Fables to the Handmaids of Xanthus, painting of 1876; drawn by G. Galli and engraved by G. Gallieni. When first shown at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, the painting won the Prince Umberto Prize of 4000 liras.[1] When it was shown at the Exposition Universelle of 1878 in Paris, the French critic Mario Proth wrote: "Why is M. Fontana's Aesop, expounding with forceful comic gestures some sort of moral, apparently very agreeable to the young women stretched limply among the oleanders, black as an Ethiopian? Perhaps M. Fontana knows more about Aesop than we do, which would not be difficult." ("Pourquoi l'Ésope de M. Fontana, exposant avec force gestes comiques une moralité quelconque, très-agréable apparemment, à de jeunes femmes mollement étendues parmi les lauriers-roses, est-il noir comme un Éthiopien? Peut-être M. Fontana en sait-il plus long que nous sur le compte d'Ésope, et cela ne l serait point difficile.")[2] The painting is now in the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milan.