Serenade

Work by Marco Marcola (Verona, 1740 - 1793) With a cursive brushstroke, modulated by careful chromatic variations aimed at balancing luminous highlights and velvety shadows, he creates the lively representation of scenes from contemporary life in this delightful pair of paintings by Marco Marcola (Verona, 1740 – 1793), a Veronese painter whose innovative aspect compared to the Veronese tradition lies in the choice of a repertoire linked to the spectacle of daily life, captured with captivating and playful narrative vivacity. Son of Giambattista, a painter active between Verona and Modena, he was the most authoritative member of a large family of artists. Trained in his father's workshop together with his brothers Nicola, Francesco, and Angela, he acquired a position of greater importance by virtue of his being "very quick in execution, fertile in inventions." The fluidity of the brushstroke and the ironic wit of the artist are the salient characteristics of the beautiful pair of paintings examined here, where the depiction of moments of popular and noble leisure constitutes a sort of "recreation" of the imagination, outlining, together with carnival scenes and theater scenes, the most successful vein of Marco's activity. Expertise: Prof. Dario Succi Oil on canvas, 56 x 76.5 cm.