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Ippolito
CAFFI
(Belluno 1809 - Lissa 1866)
Carnival
in Rome
Tempera and gouache on
heavy paper, 31 x 39 cm
Signed and dated bottom right: Caffi 1847
Exhibitions: Caffi. Luci del Mediterraneo,
curated by Annalisa Scarpa. Rome, Museo di Roma
- Palazzo Braschi, 15 February – 2 May
2006.
Literature: Caffi. Luci del Mediterraneo,
edited by Annalisa Scarpa. Rome, Museo di Roma
- Palazzo Braschi, 15 February – 2 May
2006, page 161
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This
gouache captures on paper – with the liquid
feel of a watercolour, yet at the same time extremely
accurate in its rendering of detail – a fleeting
moment in the extraordinary days that marked the Carnival
in Rome between the 15th and 16th centuries, when
its fame outshone even that of its counterpart in
Venice.
The initial venue for the Carnival celebrations was
Piazza Navona, then known as "Platea in Agone",
where bull fighting and jousting in which knights
had to strike a revolving target (a "Saracen")
or insert their lances through a small metal ring
("ring-tilting") were commonly held in the
Middle Ages. The celebrations were moved in the mid-15th
century by order of Pope Paul II who, being Venetian,
seized the opportunity to increase the appeal of his
recently built Palazzo Venezia adjacent to the church
of San Marco and chose nearby Via del Corso, then
still known as Via Lata, as the new venue for the
Carnival celebrations.
This picture is a fine example of the way in which
the artist used to devote special attention to rendering
the urban landscape, a feature typical of his best
work. The crowd crams Via del Corso in a whirlwind
of joyful, noisy, jostling movement, dance and chatter,
as though the mass of figures were perfectly aware
of their role in an amusing commedia dell'arte brought
to life by a flash of creative grace built with delicate
brushwork in light and glittering colours.
Caffi was unquestionably attracted by his theme and
certainly did not repeat it only because of its popularity
with his admirers but also because of all that it
signified for him in his permanent search for "novelty":
light, shade, refractive power, perspective and emotion,
the whole translated into light and colour. |
