The picture Italian Noon was painted by the Russian artist Lev Lagorio. He was the first to take lessons from the main marine painter of the Russian Empire, Ivan Aivazovsky. The artists were often compared, but Lagorio was able to find an individual style. His works were distinguished by the authenticity of cityscapes and natural landscapes.

In 1852, Lagorio left for Europe for eight years as a pensioner (scholar) of the Academy of Fine Arts. Such was the name for graduates who received money (pension) to improve their skills.

From there he brought over 30 finished canvases. All the artists who had worked in Rome before him basically imitated the style of the national painter Sylvester Shchedrin, but Lagorio sought to show another Italy, with its cosy gardens, small chapels and ponds.

Before the revolution, the landscape Italian Noon that is on view at the Tambov Picture Gallery, was in the collection of Pavel Stroganov, on the Znamenskoye estate. It is part of a series of landscapes that Lev Lagorio painted in Rome in the 1850s. For these works, in 1860, the painter received the title of professor at the Academy of Arts.

In the painting, the artist depicted in detail a closed, shady courtyard, masonry with green ivy and roof tiles. The protagonists of the art work are a casual passer-by and a girl to whom he asked a question. Lagorio used a soft and yet vibrant palette of fallow shades to depict the light, as well as grey-blue tones to accurately convey the shadow. This combination creates a sense of a hot midday hour.