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Lot Essay
This painting provides one of the best visual sources of the magnificent celebrations for the birth of the Infanta Maria Isabel, first-born daughter of Carlo di Borbone, which took place in Largo di Palazzo (currently Piazza del Plebiscito), Naples, on 19 September 1740.
Ferdinando Sanfelice (1675 –1748), one of the leading architects in the Bourbon court and who been apprenticed to Francesco Solimena, transformed the Largo di Palazzo into a large amphitheatre constructed of a succession of arcades around a central stage. These arcades provided both shop-stalls below and box-seats overlooking the stage for elite spectators above.
The construction at the center of the piazza is an impressive temporary architectural display designed by Sanfelice with the sole purpose of amusing the public, providing a viewpoint to admire a panoramic vista of the city. The macchina was also used to free a large number of doves, a spectacular function displayed in an engraving by Antonio Baldi (Naples, Museo di San Martino) and, on the last night, to display fireworks. The present painting depicts the evening during which the Largo di Palazzo was lit with giochi di luci (games of lights), and sumptuous allegorical carts paraded through the square accompanied by musicians and masked figures. In honor of the Infanta, the carts celebrated female virtues, including figures like the Graces, and symbols of fertility. In the lower right corner of the painting, one of the carts carries the god Vulcan at work in his forge, a mythological representation of the King, dedicated to assuring the wealth of the kingdom.
This painting of the celebrations at Largo di Palazzo at night finds a pendant in Ruiz’s depiction of the celebrations during the day (private collection, see S. Cassani et al., Capolavori in Festa, Naples, 1997, no. 1.18).
By comparing the dimensions of the macchina with those of the Palazzo Reale, it seems the artist has enlarged the macchina to better display it in its details and colouring. The picture is therefore an important document to understand the techniques and choices taken by the Sanfelice for the construction of such impressive yet temporary architectures.
Ferdinando Sanfelice (1675 –1748), one of the leading architects in the Bourbon court and who been apprenticed to Francesco Solimena, transformed the Largo di Palazzo into a large amphitheatre constructed of a succession of arcades around a central stage. These arcades provided both shop-stalls below and box-seats overlooking the stage for elite spectators above.
The construction at the center of the piazza is an impressive temporary architectural display designed by Sanfelice with the sole purpose of amusing the public, providing a viewpoint to admire a panoramic vista of the city. The macchina was also used to free a large number of doves, a spectacular function displayed in an engraving by Antonio Baldi (Naples, Museo di San Martino) and, on the last night, to display fireworks. The present painting depicts the evening during which the Largo di Palazzo was lit with giochi di luci (games of lights), and sumptuous allegorical carts paraded through the square accompanied by musicians and masked figures. In honor of the Infanta, the carts celebrated female virtues, including figures like the Graces, and symbols of fertility. In the lower right corner of the painting, one of the carts carries the god Vulcan at work in his forge, a mythological representation of the King, dedicated to assuring the wealth of the kingdom.
This painting of the celebrations at Largo di Palazzo at night finds a pendant in Ruiz’s depiction of the celebrations during the day (private collection, see S. Cassani et al., Capolavori in Festa, Naples, 1997, no. 1.18).
By comparing the dimensions of the macchina with those of the Palazzo Reale, it seems the artist has enlarged the macchina to better display it in its details and colouring. The picture is therefore an important document to understand the techniques and choices taken by the Sanfelice for the construction of such impressive yet temporary architectures.