Andrea Locatelli (Rome 19.02.1695-Rome 19.02.1741)... Lot 39

Andrea Locatelli (Rome 19.02.1695-Rome 19.02.1741) - Latium Landscape with Characters, 17th century 72x100 cm - in frame H cm 83x110 oil on canvas The scene depicted by Locatelli in the painting under review is set in a typical Roman landscape, rural and lively, whose composition develops by successive planes in light and shadow until the horizon fades. Andrea Locatelli, a pupil of Monsù Alto, worked in the service of many Roman noble families and lived through the cultural transformations of the city. Rome's lively climate and proximity to works signed by painters such as Salvator Rosa and Jan Frans van Bloemen significantly influenced Locatelli's artistic production. Indeed, his style was inspired by the realism of models contemporary to him, and an atmosphere of arcadian pastoral and allegorical character came to life in his works. The present painting embodies these stylistic peculiarities, and by making a comparison with other works by the same artist one can understand Locatelli's desire to tell a vision of nature in its most exquisitely bucolic aspects. This comparison can be made with River Landscape with Washerwomen and Shepherds, a work offered at auction by Christie's Auction House, or with Roman Landscape and Wayfarers, a painting preserved at the Francesco Borgogna Museum Foundation in Vercelli. The traits that characterize Locatelli's style are the meticulousness in the gradation of the planes, starting with flat, decisive strokes in the foreground through the depiction of rocks, foliage and vegetation, moving in the detailed depiction of the various characters that animate the scene, toward a diluted diaphanous horizon. ASORstudio