A Capriccio of Roman Ruins
1727/1729
Medium
gouache on kidskin
Dimensions
overall: 30.9 × 45.3 cm (12 3/16 × 17 13/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1982.38.2
Art Historical Context
Step into the enchanting world of Marco Ricci'sA Capriccio of Romanins* (1727/1729), a delicate gouache on kidskin that captures the romance of ancient decay. Created by the Venetian artist Marco Ricci, a master the Baroque landscape tradition, this work exemplifies the *capriccio* genrewhimsical architectural fantasies blending real Roman ruins like triumphal arches and crumbling temples into dreamlike compositions. Ricci, influenced by his uncle Sebastiano Ricci and contemporaries like Canaletto, infused these scenes with dramatic light and atmospheric depth, evoking the grandeur of imperial...
About the Artist
Marco Ricci · 1676–1730
Marco Ricci (1676–1730) was born on June 6 in Belluno, in the Republic of Venice, into a family steeped in artistic tradition as the nephew of the renowned Baroque painter Sebastiano Ricci. He received his first instruction in art from his uncle, likely during a period in Milan from 1694 to 1696, before accompanying Sebastiano to Venice in 1696, from which he soon fled amid personal troubles. Ricc...