Italian school; first half of the 18th century.

Italian school; first half of the 18th century.
"Caprice of ruins".
Oil on canvas. Relined antique.
Measurements: 67 x 89 cm; 76 x 98 cm (frame).
This "Capricho" offers us a panoramic landscape built from the reproduction of various monuments of classical style, to which the romantic concept of the ruin is added. It shows an idealized landscape in which a series of ruins of clear Roman influence stand out, such as colonnades with arcades in front, etc. The genre of the landscape view with ruins or classical monuments, real or invented, enjoyed great success in the Baroque period, having a wide influence in later centuries.
Italian painting in the 18th century experienced a development of its own, thanks to the large number of architectural remains preserved in the country. The taste for the artistic remains of the past, the generalization of the travels of writers and artists in search of monuments and works of art that served as a source of inspiration, and the discovery of important ancient remains such as those of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum undoubtedly contributed to the success of the genre. It is a pictorial genre, moreover, that has its roots in the seventeenth century, in the veduta, not always topographical, but sometimes extremely imaginative, of artists such as Canaletto and others. These "Veduta" or "Caprice" start from the figurative theme is taken as an excuse for the development of a broad and naturalistic landscape, classicist style, perfectly framed within the classic Italian Baroque landscape. Thus, the figures are small in relation to the scenery, and although they appear in the foreground, clearly visible, they are perfectly integrated within the landscape, which rises as the true protagonist of the work.