17th century Old Master Flemish School oil on copper painting depicting a picturesque Scene from the Commedy of the Arts, a scenery crowded with a multitude of figures in the foreground with classical architecture and landscape in the background. Flemish oil painting from the 1600s executed on a copper plate depicting a foreshortened landscape with figures, a genre scene with a multitude of crowded characters in a street with classical architecture in the background. On the left side of the composition, on a sort of stage in front of a portal decorated with bas-reliefs, six figures of theatricals, actors in the commedia dell’arte: a dentist at work on a patient, a gentleman proclaiming, a lady, a child and a masked histrion. Below the stage, among the audience, a multitude of passers-by, characters immersed in a wide variety of scenes of daily life activities, distinguished from each other according to Flemish custom; saleswomen, dogs and a cart pulling a horse enrich the scenery of this slice of life.
This detailed, small-scale antique painting succeeds in depicting a genre scene dense with characters, consisting of more than forty figures crowding this Flemish-origin composition; the work comes from a private collection, is unsigned and is in good condition, consistent with its dating; it is presented within a modern guilloché frame of ebonized wood.
Copper plate painting measures 15 x 23 cm. Listed size refer to frame size.
The commedia dell’arte is a form of entertainment born in Italy in the sixteenth century, which stands out from other theatrical genres of the time for the professionalism of the actors. It remained popular until the mid-18th century, the years of Goldoni’s comedy reform. It was not a theatrical genre, but a different way of producing the shows. The performances were not based on defined scripts, but on canvases, also called scenarios, which provided only indications on the action and on the jokes, comic interventions disconnected from the rest of the comedy, with the sole purpose of making people laugh, while the rest of the show was entrusted to improvisation. Another characteristic element of the commedia dell’arte is the presence of fixed characters, or characters with the same characteristics that are repeated in the different representations. Originally, the performances were held outdoors with a scenography made up of a few objects. Abroad it was known as Italian Comedy. In their spectacular formula, the comedians of the Commedia dell’Arte introduced a new and revolutionary element : the presence of women on the stage. Only at the end of the century would women take their full place in theatrical companies.