Splendid painting signed and dated 1874, the confession

Painting signed and dated 1874 attributable to the Italian painter Francesco Valaperta, lacking authentication. A student of Francesco Hayez at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, he specialized in genre scenes or scenes of historical-literary derivation. Oil on canvas artwork depicting a splendid romantic scene of great charm. The composition is set inside a Gothic cathedral, probably during a service. A young woman is kneeling in an attitude between penitent and ecstatic and seems to be confessing her sins to a nun sitting with her back turned. A man approaches her and whispers something in her ear, as if he were acting as a counterpoint to the nun to symbolize sin. Scenographic contemporary frame in carved and gilded wood in neo-Gothic style, with some signs of aging. Painting on the first canvas, overall in good condition. Interior size H 75 x W 50 cm.