Carlo Marchionni

Description

The temporary and ephemeral decorative projects made for parties or celebrations presented a particularly propitious field of work for the imagination of Marchionni. The artist excelled in creating these drawings, of which the present sheet is a fine example. The present drawing is preparatory for the decorations executed to celebrate the canonization of José Calasanz, Giovanni Canzio, Giuseppe da Copertino, Girolamo Emiliani, Serafino da Monte Granaro, and Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot de Chantal in St Peter’s Basilica on 16 July 1767. In our drawing, the future saints, seen kneeling, are placed above blank shields. In the final decoration, the papal arms of Clement XIII Rezzonico and their respective religious orders, would be added to the shields. This decoration was placed on the façade of the central nave between two large Corinthian columns, as can be seen in our drawing. An engraving by Giuseppe Vasi shows the interior of Saint Peter’s in Rome on the same day. 

Marchionni’s manner is both rococo and painterly. He uses gray wash applied in small, contrasting, and dynamic strokes. The artist creates a luminous and vigorous drawing in which draperies, garlands of flowers, architectural elements, and cherubs in flight, intermingle.

We thank Mrs. Elisabeth Kieven for the information she provided.