Processing
Pictography painted in oil on panel with "Picta" processing. Two-layer hand painting with Maimeri and Winsor & Newton colors. Working with magnifying glass. Solid wood board with anti-imbalance crossbars. Solid wood frame gilded in gold leaf. Size with frame: 30x40 cm.
History
Gaspar van Wittel, also known as Vanvitelli, was the pioneer of vedute, those urban vistas painted with meticulous attention to topographical accuracy, encompassing everything from perspective viewpoints to the smallest descriptive details. This approach would later bring great success to a certain Canaletto in Venice. The veduta represented not only a new artistic genre, but also an innovative technique established by Vanvitelli, which inspired the young Canaletto during his visits to Rome in the 1720s. Vanvitelli produced views of Venice, Florence, Naples, and idealized landscapes, but his main subject was Rome, where he spent most of his life. This View of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome is one of his most famous works, reproduced by the painter more than ten times between 1683 and 1722. A precise dating of the painting is difficult, since although Vanvitelli often signed his works, he did not always affix a date to them, as is the case with this one. The addition of a palace on the left to balance the composition and the reduced number of figures, which appear less tapered than in his early works, indicate his mature style.
Gaspare Vanvitelli, View of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome