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Circle of Francesco Battaglioli, Architecture with Swans

18th 18th Century

$17,007.20
£12,803.82
€14,400
CA$23,428.55
A$26,238.49
CHF 13,690.82
MX$320,491.92
NOK 174,187.02
SEK 164,192.14
DKK 109,614.75

About the Item

Workshop of Francesco Battaglioli (Modena, c. 1710 - Venice, after 1796) Baroque palace architecture with elegant staff and swans Oil on canvas, 95 x 136 cm Frame, 113 x 154 cm Of Modenese origin, as ancient sources indicate, Francesco Battaglioli is reported to have been present in Venice, which became his de facto adopted home, from 1747 to 1751, a period when his name appears in the Fraglia of painters. We find him in Madrid three years later, when he was called by Ferdinand VI, for whom he painted the Views of the Royal Palaces of Aranjuez and Madrid. At the Spanish court he weaved a collaborative relationship with Farinelli and Metastasio, creating sets for numerous melodramatic performances. Returning to Venice upon the death of the King of Spain in 1759, he was elected a member of the Academy in 1772: in the Venetian institution he would be called to hold the chair of Perspective from 1778 to 1789. In this beautiful painting, the use of perspective proves to be of the highest quality, capable of evoking extraordinary scenic representations, likewise vivid in atmospheric and chromatic sensitivity, achieving decorative levels of remarkable visual impact. It can certainly be said that Battaglioli is the worthy heir to the artistic tradition inaugurated by Viviano Codazzi and pursued by Giovanni Paolo Pannini and Antonio Joli, resulting in monumental achievements in the wake of Michele Marieschi. It was certainly no coincidence that in 1778 it was he who inherited the chair of perspective at the Venice Academy after the resignation of Antonio Visentini, crowning a career of undisputed success with recognition of the highest prestige. Battaglioli's celebrated skill is well demonstrated in this canvas, where drawing and pictorial wisdom lead to outcomes worthy of the best vedutistic tradition, without neglecting a taste for detail and narrative aspects. Equally notable is the drafting of dense and chromatically vivid impasto, which is also suitable for measuring the shadow lines of the architectural moldings and their depth. The great technical-executive skill of the painting and especially the handling of shadows, bring Battaglioli's work closer to that of some of the most celebrated representatives of vedutismo: taking these aspects into consideration, it is in fact not surprising that not a few of the works of the Modenese-born artist active between Venice and Spain were attributed by Pallucchini to the young Canaletto. The subject in question is a villa in clear Baroque taste, as evidenced by the wall decorations, the curved line, the elaborate shapes, the multifaceted volumes, and the extreme sense of theatricality conferred by the statues, balustrades, pond, and bridge. A number of birds swim within the pond, including a pair of adult swans, a natural element inserted into a body of water bordered by statues related to the aquatic world: a river deity within a shell-shaped niche, a trident-equipped putto riding a fish, and several niches within which several jets of water fill shell-shaped basins. The characters that populate the scene can be clearly distinguished by how much they are painted with a few quick touches; they are distributed over multiple planes and animate the composition without taking the leading role away from the architecture.
  • Creation Year:
    18th 18th Century
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 37.41 in (95 cm)Width: 53.55 in (136 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    95x136 cm Price: $17,007
  • Medium:
  • Circle Of:
    Francesco Battaglioli (1725 - 1796, Italian)
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Milan, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2639215867352

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