Cesare Ferro Milone spent his life in Turin and Bangkok, focusing on portraiture and mural paintings. His works, which capture the local population and daily life in Siam, shaped the image of the country for the Italian and European audience. Cesare Ferro Milone’s portrait Me Chani, ballerina della regina (1925) is related to his second stay in Siam (1923–1924). Me Ciani, a celebrated dancer of the Siamese court, is seated on the floor in a graceful and sinuous pose in an interior decorated with wall paintings. Milone, who had also portrayed Queen Savang Vadhana, captures the proud gaze of the dancer, directly aimed at the viewer. The painter dwells on the precious Siamese fabrics, detailing the workmanship and the glitter of the metals, and interrupts the figure at the bottom right in a photographic cut-out. The work, which the artist signed and dated 1925, was probably painted in Turin using sketches, photographs, and memories collected during his stay, according to a common practice of travelling artists. Strongly fascinated by Siamese dance and theatre, Milone also portrayed himself in the mirror among Siamese theatre masks and other objects.
—Carmen Belmonte
