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Lot Essay
This splendid, unpublished view of the Campo Vaccino in Rome was among Joli’s most successful and popular compositions. All of his known views of the Campo are anchored on the right by the corner of the Temple of Saturn. Some take in the arch of Septimius Severus on the left, but four canvases, including this picture, adopt a more advanced viewpoint, moving the arch out of sight. Joli frames the composition here on the far left instead with the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, converted into the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda, with the three apses of the Basilica of Maxentius visible above. At the far end of the Campo, straight ahead, is the church of Santa Francesca Romana, with the Colosseum looming in the evening light behind. To the right are the arches of Titus and Constantine, and on the righthand side are the three columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux; seen behind is the church of Santa Maria Liberatrice, destroyed in 1899. This exact viewpoint is most similar to the picture given to Joli, of smaller dimensions and with fewer figures, offered for sale in these Rooms, 10 July 2002, lot 166 (see R. Toledano, Antonio Joli, Turin, 2006, p. 138, no. R.II.3). It is probable that this canvas was made during Joli’s trip to England in 1744-49, and shows the enduring popularity of this particular veduta. To satisfy the demands of his patrons, Ralph Toledano suggests that Joli would have kept a drawing of the Campo Vaccino in his portfolio, perhaps made when he was in Panini’s studio, that he could use and re-use when commissioned (ibid., p. 126).
Joli’s composition shows a bucolic Rome, quite removed from the view encountered by the modern visitor to the city. After Rome was declared capital of Italy in 1870, following the breach of Porta Pia, this vision of the Campo Vaccino as a pastoral idyll was lost forever. The birth of ‘Roma capitale’ witnessed a rapid, sometimes destructive process of urbanisation as the population multiplied, roads were built and the city was transformed to cope with the demands of its new role.
We are grateful to Ralph Toledano for confirming the attribution to Joli on the basis of a photograph.
Joli’s composition shows a bucolic Rome, quite removed from the view encountered by the modern visitor to the city. After Rome was declared capital of Italy in 1870, following the breach of Porta Pia, this vision of the Campo Vaccino as a pastoral idyll was lost forever. The birth of ‘Roma capitale’ witnessed a rapid, sometimes destructive process of urbanisation as the population multiplied, roads were built and the city was transformed to cope with the demands of its new role.
We are grateful to Ralph Toledano for confirming the attribution to Joli on the basis of a photograph.