"Concertino"

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 of 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 everyday life, captured with captivating and playful narrative liveliness. Son of Giambattista, a painter working 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 more prominent position by virtue of his being "very quick in execution, fertile in inventions." The ease 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 entertainment constitutes a sort of "recreation" of the imagination, delineating, together with carnivals and theater scenes, the most successful vein of Marco's activity. Oil on canvas, 56 x 76.5 cm. Expertise: Prof. Dario Succi