Description

Alessio De Marchis (Naples, ca 1710 – Perugia, 1752)

Pair of oval landscapes
Oil on panel, 47.3×35.5 cm

The first phase of Alessio De Marchis’ production is entirely dedicated to the view in Rome, its tradition and the study of contemporaries. From the sources we know that the painter was imprisoned in Castel Sant’Angelo for causing a fire and from there he only came out thanks to the protection of his patron, Cardinal Annibale Albani. Thanks to his intervention, De Marchis had the opportunity to start the second phase of his production, more mature and complete: following the cardinal he went to Urbino in 1728, where he frescoed the family palace. In the following years his activity moved to Urbino, where he had numerous important positions.

This pair of oval panels is certainly representative of the artist’s maturity: in an oval the glimpse between the trees allows a glimpse of a vast valley, with architecture in the background, while in its pendant there are two trees in the center of the composition, behind them stands out. an imposing mountain. Observing the brushstroke, which has always been not very analytical and with a not very rigorous line, here it becomes even more lively, almost lashing, romantic. The color is spread in dense, expressive spots; the painter, who was also known in Rome as a skilled draftsman, here lost all interest in minutiae, in describing details.

In works like this one recognizes as imperative the will to free the genre of the landscape from any form of narrative, to elevate it to a meaningful representation for itself and which can live by itself.

Bibl.: A. Busiri Vici, Trittico paesistico romano del’700…, Roma 1975, pp. 159-207, 298-355;
C. Maggini, ‘Aggiunte ad Alessio De Marchis: quattro opere grafiche e tre dipinti ad olio’, in ‘Studi per Piero Zampetti’, Ancona 1993, pp. 416-419;
A. Cerboni Baiardi, ‘Alessio De Marchis’, in ‘La pittura di paesaggio in Italia. Il Settecento’, a cura di A. Ottani Cavina ed E. Calbi, Milano 2005, pp. 174-175, con bibliografia precedente.

Our reference: AF00337