Paolo Monaldi (Roma, 1720 ca – Roma, 1780) Paesaggio... Lot n° 164

Much of Monaldi's corpus has, over time, flowed into Andrea Locatelli's production, still not making it possible today to understand the actual breadth of the painter's output.From some sources we know that Monaldi worked throughout his life in Lazio and was a pupil of the Roman vedutista Paolo Anesi: some studies, however, also support a discipleship with the more famous Locatelli. In this painting we sense several influences such as studies of the ruins and landscapes of the Flemish and Bamboccianti, to which Monaldi makes much reference; but the breadth of the view and the veiled atmosphere look to Locatelli as a point of reference. Despite his predilection for the popular, bambocciante genre combined with refined foreshortenings, he had several commissions from noble collecting families in Rome such as the Chigi and Rospigliosi.The popular scenes depicted here are yes light, descriptive and constructed with broad gestures, but they do not have an ironic intent, they are not meant to amuse the viewer. If anything, our gaze represents an outside observer, witnessing the daily unfolding of life, almost arcadian, of the small town in contact with nature.A. Busiri Vici, Roman landscape triptych of the 18th century. Paolo Anesi, P. M., Alessio De' Marchis, Rome 1976, pp. 73-156. Oil on canvas, cm est. 176x141, int. 164X129