"Allegory of Charity and Roman Views"
A Neoclassical fan project page depicting the allegory of charity and two Roman views, surrounded by intricate grotesques, the Pyramid of Caius Cestius on the left and the Temple of Vesta on the right, made of tempera on chicken or swan skin, framed in a coeval shape.
Roman school of the second half of the eighteenth century, attributable to the atelier of Tommaso Bigatti (active between 1770-1810) or Camillo Buti (1747-1808), both specialized in the creation of fans and miniatures on fine leather.
Dimensions: 25x15 cm
Condition commensurate with age: excellent, slight defects.
With the advent of the Restoration, which marked the end of a very stormy period for Europe, Italy once again became the preferred destination for foreign travelers. And Rome remained an absolutely essential stop on the Grand Tour itineraries. From here, amateurs and collectors rarely left empty-handed. Too strong was the desire to transfer to the country of origin a testimony of what for many was to remain an unrepeatable experience. Thus a particular artistic sector developed almost exclusively dedicated to satisfying these needs. One of the most popular artists active in this type of production was certainly Tommaso Bigatti, whose works express an unmistakable stylistic figure: never too large in size even to facilitate transport, often framed under glass to preserve the integrity of the precious tempera technique. on parchment, Bigatti's sheets mainly offered images taken from Pompeian paintings, frescoes or ancient paintings, or views of Rome, surrounded by a triumph of grotesques and friezes inserted in elegant architectural scores.
