Offered by Brozzetti Antichità
Francesco Aviani (Italy - Venice, 25-11-1662 / 1715)
Couple of paintings depicting Capricci
Oil on canvas, 135 x 183 cm, without frame
The two large and fine paintings depict two illusionistic architectural renderings, with views of colonnades and arched buildings, animated by figures. The compositions are characterized by the harmony with which the painter introduces the sumptuous architectural monuments, the mirrors of water, the buildings in the distance and the views of the landscape. Dominates with a color on the tones of brown and ochre that stands out on the blue sky, marked by some cloud of steam. The insertion of the figures to enliven the architectural views also balances with the set. The Capriccio, an artistic genre that has made its way into Italian painting since the 17th Century, is characterized by the representation of fantastic architectures or prospective inventions, sometimes combined with elements drawn freely from reality. The two paintings are an example of this type and they are a very interesting and fine artwork. The remarkable pictorial quality emerges both from the composition of the ensemble and from the way in which the artist describes the views with great attention to detail, highlights and refined, perfectly realistic, chiaroscuro. The same must be recognized for the figures: these are described with a wise brushstroke, quick and quick touches give the dynamism of the moment that is captured, as if time had stopped to show and narrate what is happening.
The painting on the right represents a large baroque building in stone and paved with marbles, two floors, with moving façade, large columns with corinthian columns, a large portal with a staircase with large footsteps, a balustrade with string, from which some figures appear, and two equestrian monuments in bronze. The sumptuous building overlooks a large pool of water, with a gushing fountain, around which some characters sit. In the second floor is described a white palace from which rises a tower crowned by a structure with wrought iron loggia. In addition there is a bridge and some architectural ruins behind which some mountainous reliefs fade towards the horizon. On the staircase is described a particular scene. The people seem to be part of a very precise story. A woman, in the shadow of a parasol supported by a servant, would seem to drive out of the palace a man, who, taken under his arm by two maidens with a determined attitude, is led to a boat.
The scene could be identified with the biblical episode of the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15,11-32), at the moment when the prodigal son is robbed and driven away by the harlots. [...]
The style of the works studied here leads to a dating that runs between the 17th and 18th Centuries, with obvious influences dictated by the perspectives of the brothers Galli Bibiena. The analysis of the architectures and the chromatic palette suggests that we are in the presence of a northern Italian and Venetian author. Observing the decorations and the volutes, the brightness and the perspective disposition in fact, we find several analogies with those used by the Vicenza painter Francesco Aviani, excellent in pictorial perspective and architectural views. The biographical profile of Francesco Aviani (Italy - Vicenza, 1662-1715) was essentially traced in 1956 by Andreina Ballarin, then re-visited by Federica Spadotto in 2014 and Giancarlo Sestieri in 2015. Certain documents about his life are scarce, as are the documented works. He was born in Venice, probably on 25 November 1662, to Bernardo and a Magdalene whose surname is unknown, and was baptized on 3 December 1662. [...]
In Aviani’s works it is possible to find a certain knowledge of the Roman Codazzi paint nd its early development of the eighteenth century, developed with the Locatelli, the Pannini and the less known Domenico Roberti. To Roberti have been recently attributed two works that have some compositional affinity with the canvases in question. The same can be done for a work on the antique market, attributed to Pietro Francesco Garola by Giancarlo Sestieri. These considerations are indicative of the taste diffused in Italy for this type of subject and, equally, of the attributive difficulties that arise due to the scarcity of documents certain on the artistic path of these artists who, although for a long time in the shadows, today they are back to being much appreciated both by the christian and the great collectors. We apologize for any errors in translation from the Italian language.
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