Pierre-Antoine DEMACHY (Parigi 1723 – 1807) Capric

Pierre-Antoine DEMACHY (Paris 1723 – 1807) Architectural Capriccio oil on canvas cm. 92 x 70 framed cm. 117 x 95 Expertise by Prof. Giancarlo Sestieri (Rome) Further details of this work can be viewed on: www.antichitacastelbarco.it? With regard to this refined "Architectural Capriccio" (oil on canvas, 92 x 70 cm), the Roman origin of its inventiveness is manifest, consisting of the interior of an imaginary palace in ruins, from which two round arches emerge, still majestic despite being partly dilapidated, resting on pairs of smooth columns with composite capitals of complex and bizarre design, in which the various classical styles intertwine. Completing the archaeological-ruinistic expository angle of the composition is the contrast between the well-preserved large vase, directly inspired by famous models such as the "Ludovisi" vase, and the architectural fragments, including an overturned capital in the lower right corner. […] Clearly, the author refers to the taste of Panini's inventions, which came into great vogue from the mid-eighteenth century well beyond the borders of the Papal States, and it is not to be excluded that he also knew similar works by direct followers of the Piacenza master, or by other specialists in the sector who acted slightly in advance or in his wake, such as Il Carlieri and Il Roberti, or the various French artists with Servandoni, who immediately distinguished himself in this regard and who pursued a direction pertaining to that of the "Capriccio" taken into consideration here. The "Capriccio", however, also makes use of a figurative animation and a landscape background in the light of the archway, which clearly lead back to Van Bloemen - figures and backgrounds are the same in many of his paintings and almost the same in one assigned to his workshop... […] [Giancarlo Sestieri] Pierre-Antoine Demachy was a French painter, born on September 17, 1723 in Paris, and died on September 10, 1807. Active in the second half of the 18th century, he specialized in paintings of architectural ruins, trompe l'oeil, and especially views of Paris, where he gave free rein to his creativity and audacity. He was the ancestor of the banker Charles Adolphe Demachy (1818-1888).