Description

Pietro Domenico Olivero (Turin, 1679 – Turin, 1755)

Genre scene at the bottom of a Pietro Domenico Olivero castle
Oil painting on canvas.

The greatest merit of this artist was that of being a lucid, appreciated and ironic interpreter of Piedmontese society in the first half of the 18th century. The infirmity that afflicted him from birth – he was crippled in both legs – did not prevent him from growing curious and inventive. The Oliviero is formed in the shadow of the Piedmontese experiences of Flemish painters whose works had remained in the private Turin collections. His skills and his kindness of soul allowed him to enter the graces of the Prince of Piedmont Vittorio Amedeo II, who always encouraged him to devote himself to the representation of courtly themes, portraits of the upper class or of court life.
The painter’s soul was and will always remain that of a stricto sensu bambocciante: the scenes represented by these painters were always original, they never failed to illustrate some curious data and depicted themes that were always extremely varied, as expected from a curious investigation of reality.

In this painting, another approach different from the couple by the same author in a bambocciante theme is visible and we find the chaotic whirling of a large number of people in a more rugged and wild landscape, dotted with ancient ruins and a large landscape.

Bibl.: A. Cifani – F. Monetti, Gusto fiammingo e fantasia italiana: P.D. O. (1679-1755) «pittore virtuosissimo», cantore della civiltà piemontese del Settecento, in Il Quirinale, III (2007), pp. 103-112

Our reference: A05194