Architectural Caprice
Gennaro Greco the "Mascacotta"
(Naples, 1663-1714)
Oil on canvas
Antique gilded frame
Canvas 92 x 61
Frame 118 x 82
Excellent condition
This beautiful canvas depicting a complex architectural caprice, presents all the stylistic characteristics of the celebrated Neapolitan Baroque school.
Straddling the 17th and 18th centuries, a large group of excellent artists distinguished themselves, not only for religious works but also for the production of magnificent paintings with imaginative and spectacular architectural compositions.
The work proposed here, executed at the end of the 17th century, is an excellent display of skill by Gennaro Greco, one of the most valuable representatives of the Neapolitan Baroque school specializing in these extremely articulated and highly theatrical capriccios.
Gennaro Greco (Naples, 1663-1714), known as Mascacotta due to his face disfigured by a burn sustained at a young age, creates his canvases with a very severe and unadorned setting where imposing columns are placed in proximity to port landscapes, standing out against blue skies.
The elongated figures that animate the scenes are reminiscent of characters from Northern painting and are never preponderant in the overall composition, but rather serve to make it more lively, leaving the monuments the role of protagonists of the scene.
Noteworthy is the exceptional three-dimensional effect that the Author manages to achieve thanks to a perfect perspective view and a marked interplay of light and shadow emphasized by the monumentality of the buildings.
The considerable depth is instead obtained by the sequential view beyond the columns, of a fortified village, further away a bridge, and finally, where the gaze is lost, the silhouette of a mountain, increasingly blurred due to the atmosphere.
The work is in excellent condition and comes complete with a beautiful antique gilded frame.
We issue a stamped and signed certificate of authenticity that guarantees the period, provenance, and all characteristics of the work, drawn up by an antiquarian affiliated with FIMA (FEDERAZIONE ITALIANA MERCANTI D'ARTE).
Delivery in Italy and throughout Europe within 3 days of receipt of bank transfer.
The shipment is tracked and insured and travels with careful anti-shock packaging inside a custom-made wooden crate.
All photographic details at the link:
https://www.antichitaischia.it/it/prodotto/capriccio-architettonico
Negotiable price and personalized payment
