Capricci with architectural ruins, Pierre-Antoine DEMACHY, ancient oil painting on canvas

Pierre-Antoine DEMACHY
(Paris 1723 – 1807)
Architectural whim

oil painting on canvas
cm 92 x 70
Critical report and expertise by Prof. Giancarlo Sestieri (Rome)

Further details of this work can be viewed at: www.antichitacastelbarco.it​

With regard to this refined “Architectural Capriccio” (oil painting on canvas, 92 x 70 cm), the Roman matrix of his inventiveness is clearly evident, consisting of the interior of an imaginary palace in ruins, of which two arches emerge all sixth, still majestic despite being partly ruined, resting on pairs of smooth columns with composite capitals of a complex and bizarre model, in which the various classical styles intertwine. The archaeological-ruinistic exhibition angle of the composition is completed by the contrast between the well-preserved large vase, directly inspired by famous models such as the "Ludovisi" one, and the architectural fragments, including an upside-down capital in the lower right corner. […]
Clearly the author draws on the taste for the inventiveness of Panini, who came into great vogue since the mid-eighteenth century well beyond the borders of the papal state, as his knowledge of similar works by direct followers of the Piacenza master cannot also be excluded, or of other specialists in the sector who acted slightly ahead of him or in his wake, such as Carlieri and Roberti, or the various Frenchmen with Servandoni, who immediately stood out in this regard and who pursued a direction relevant to that of the "Capriccio" taken into account here consideration. However, the “Capriccio” also makes use of a figurative animation and a landscape background in the light of the arch, which clearly lead back to Van Bloemen – the figures and backgrounds are the same in many of his paintings and almost the same in one assigned to his workshop… […]
[Giancarlo Sestieri]

Pierre-Antoine Demachy was a French painter, born on 17 September 1723 in Paris, and died on 10 September 1807.
Active in the second half of the 18th century, he specialized in paintings of architectural ruins, in trompe l'oeil and above all in views of Paris, where he gave free rein to his creativity and audacity.
He was the ancestor of the banker Charles Adolphe Demachy (1818-1888).