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Lot Essay
This depiction of the popular eighteenth-century game of palla a bracciale is unique in Antonio Joli's oeuvre in that it is the artist's only known representation of this subject to be set in Rome. Joli skillfully represents the game which consists of eight players divided into two teams who attempt to bat a ball with the forearm which is protected by a large wooden bracer (or palla) - giving the game its name. The teams dressed in red and blue costumes are shown in a tense moment as they wait for the high-flung ball, viewed between the treetops, to make its way back to playing level, presumably to be received by the side in blue. Two attendants are seen on the right edge of the pitch pumping air into balls in preparation for the next point. The spectators watch from the sidelines in the gardens behind the Palazzo Barberini, some standing on top of parked carriages for better viewing.
Palla a bracciale is traditionally associated with Naples and was a favorite sport of the Bourbon Court there. King Ferdinand IV's personal passion for the sport is known from an account written by his brother-in-law, Emperor Joseph II, in 1769: 'we arrived at a ground where they were playing palla [a bracciale]. The King took off his coat, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and played together with eight men amongst whom were bodyguards, valets and beggars' (E. Grams-Cornides, ed., Cortelazzara, Relazione a Maria Teresa sui Reali di Napoli, Naples, 1992, p. 37). Joli's other composition of this subject records a historic match attended by the king, King Ferdinand IV and Queen Caroline of Naples attending a game of Palla a bracciale, and was sold at Christie's, London, 17 December 1999, lot 69 (with two versions, in Naples, Museo di San Martino and Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum; see R. Toledano, Antonio Joli, Turin, 2006, p. 354, no. N.XXI.1-3). Pietro Fabris' account of that match hangs at the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's, London and attests to the connection between this sport and modern cricket.
The gardens of Palazzo Barberini are seen from alongside the distinctive wide staircase that serves as a tunnel from Maderno's main courtyard of the palace, built in the early seventeenth century, into the garden, which lies at higher ground behind it. The botanical gardens that were installed by Cardinal Francesco Barberini under the guidance of Cassiano dal Pozzo, and replanted by his brother Antonio in the 1630s, lie behind the high wall on the far side of the lawn seen here. In this composition Joli favors the anecdotal details of daily life in eighteenth-century Rome over the pure topographical views of his earlier career - reflecting the taste among his foreign clientele from the mid-1750s. This approach comes from a close study and appreciation of Vanvitelli's work and it is not surprising therefore that this picture bore an early attribution to that artist, as indicated on the handwritten label on the reverse.
In 2011, Ralph Toledano endorsed the attribution and proposed a date to after 1754 (written communication, 21 July 2011).
Palla a bracciale is traditionally associated with Naples and was a favorite sport of the Bourbon Court there. King Ferdinand IV's personal passion for the sport is known from an account written by his brother-in-law, Emperor Joseph II, in 1769: 'we arrived at a ground where they were playing palla [a bracciale]. The King took off his coat, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and played together with eight men amongst whom were bodyguards, valets and beggars' (E. Grams-Cornides, ed., Cortelazzara, Relazione a Maria Teresa sui Reali di Napoli, Naples, 1992, p. 37). Joli's other composition of this subject records a historic match attended by the king, King Ferdinand IV and Queen Caroline of Naples attending a game of Palla a bracciale, and was sold at Christie's, London, 17 December 1999, lot 69 (with two versions, in Naples, Museo di San Martino and Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum; see R. Toledano, Antonio Joli, Turin, 2006, p. 354, no. N.XXI.1-3). Pietro Fabris' account of that match hangs at the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's, London and attests to the connection between this sport and modern cricket.
The gardens of Palazzo Barberini are seen from alongside the distinctive wide staircase that serves as a tunnel from Maderno's main courtyard of the palace, built in the early seventeenth century, into the garden, which lies at higher ground behind it. The botanical gardens that were installed by Cardinal Francesco Barberini under the guidance of Cassiano dal Pozzo, and replanted by his brother Antonio in the 1630s, lie behind the high wall on the far side of the lawn seen here. In this composition Joli favors the anecdotal details of daily life in eighteenth-century Rome over the pure topographical views of his earlier career - reflecting the taste among his foreign clientele from the mid-1750s. This approach comes from a close study and appreciation of Vanvitelli's work and it is not surprising therefore that this picture bore an early attribution to that artist, as indicated on the handwritten label on the reverse.
In 2011, Ralph Toledano endorsed the attribution and proposed a date to after 1754 (written communication, 21 July 2011).