.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This luminous view of the Roman Forum was almost certainly painted as a pendant to the View of the Piazza Navona with a market (fig. 1), signed and dated 1733, that was given to the Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna by the estate of Prince Johann of Liechtenstein in 1881. Both compositions share the same dimensions and large copper support, which Locatelli only used on rare occasions. In fact, both panels stand out in the artist's oeuvre as part of a remarkably small group of topographically accurate view paintings. In addition to the Vienna panel, Locatelli's other known vedute reali are the pair of large perspective views of the projected Castello di Rivoli that the artist painted for another illustrious patron, (Castello di Racconigi, Turin), a view of the Tiber with the Ponte Rotto (Städtische's Museum-Gemäldegalerie, Wiesbaden), and a View of the Tiber with the Castel Sant'Angelo (private collection, Rome).
The Vienna panel represents the same view from the piano nobile of the Palazzo Massimo Lancelotti that, working a generation earlier, Gaspare Vanvitelli had employed for a series of paintings datable from 1688 to 1723 (for an example, see lot 39 of this sale). In no small part due to Bernini's unforgettable Four Rivers Fountain and the magnificent undulating façade of Borromini's Sant'Agnese church, that the Piazza Navona became one of the most popular squares in Rome in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and was often represented by view painters. The present composition appears to be entirely conceived by Locatelli and its pairing with the Piazza Navona is uncommon - views of the Piazza Navona were most frequently paired with views of the piazza of Saint Peter's. As with the Vienna panel, here Locatelli has painted a view teeming with figures taken out of the lower tiers of Roman society, subjects to which the artist dedicated so much of his career. Men and women congregate in the foreground while others drive carts amongst the ruins. Above all, the scene is dominated by animals. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Roman Forum was known as the Campo Vaccino and served as a cow pasture. Unlike many of his contemporaries, such as Giovanni Paolo Panini, Locatelli chose to emphasize this aspect of this site rather than suppress it. Accordingly, cows fill the scene, together with a few horses, sheep, and oxen.
As Bowron has observed (loc. cit.), Locatelli's emphasis on the low-life figures and animals in this painting superseded his desire to capture every detail of the topography with absolute fidelity. Thus, the artist has manipulated the placement of several iconic buildings, such as the Arch of Titus in the distance and the Temple of Castor and Pollox, which frames the composition on the right. The view was apparently captured about halfway down the forum, at the site of a fountain and water trough that were erected in the sixteenth century (these were removed in 1816 to the Piazza del Quirinale). Just behind these, one sees the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice (now destroyed) and to its left, the Farnese Gardens.
The Vienna panel represents the same view from the piano nobile of the Palazzo Massimo Lancelotti that, working a generation earlier, Gaspare Vanvitelli had employed for a series of paintings datable from 1688 to 1723 (for an example, see lot 39 of this sale). In no small part due to Bernini's unforgettable Four Rivers Fountain and the magnificent undulating façade of Borromini's Sant'Agnese church, that the Piazza Navona became one of the most popular squares in Rome in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and was often represented by view painters. The present composition appears to be entirely conceived by Locatelli and its pairing with the Piazza Navona is uncommon - views of the Piazza Navona were most frequently paired with views of the piazza of Saint Peter's. As with the Vienna panel, here Locatelli has painted a view teeming with figures taken out of the lower tiers of Roman society, subjects to which the artist dedicated so much of his career. Men and women congregate in the foreground while others drive carts amongst the ruins. Above all, the scene is dominated by animals. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Roman Forum was known as the Campo Vaccino and served as a cow pasture. Unlike many of his contemporaries, such as Giovanni Paolo Panini, Locatelli chose to emphasize this aspect of this site rather than suppress it. Accordingly, cows fill the scene, together with a few horses, sheep, and oxen.
As Bowron has observed (loc. cit.), Locatelli's emphasis on the low-life figures and animals in this painting superseded his desire to capture every detail of the topography with absolute fidelity. Thus, the artist has manipulated the placement of several iconic buildings, such as the Arch of Titus in the distance and the Temple of Castor and Pollox, which frames the composition on the right. The view was apparently captured about halfway down the forum, at the site of a fountain and water trough that were erected in the sixteenth century (these were removed in 1816 to the Piazza del Quirinale). Just behind these, one sees the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice (now destroyed) and to its left, the Farnese Gardens.