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The
seventeenth Century onwards Painting
A
Manneristic trend that was inspired by classic models (Brandani, Zuccari
brothers, Barocci, Tibaldi, De Magistris) developed in Italy in the
seventeenth century. This period was historically characterized by an
increasing level of formality and rigidity in all sectors due to the
Catholic Counter Reformation. The influence of Rome was perceived as
heavier and heavier. In Art the artist were subjected to it through the
‘caravaggismo’. It was a new way of painting that the local artists,
such as Guerrieri, came to know with the arrival of Orazio Gentileschi
(one of Caravaggio’s pupils). The artistic originality was highly
threatened by this new style, that at first prevented the spreading of
Baroque. Some local painters (Sassoferrato, Maratta, Ghezzi) managed
anyway to influence in turn the Roman artistic entourage. Pieces of art by
famous artists such as Rubens, Guercino, Guido Reni and Carracci started
to make their appearance in Marche.
The
eighteenth century was mainly characterized by a hive of architectural
activity. Many buildings underwent restoration. The works were
commissioned to famous artists. In Marche was active Luigi Vanvitelli with
his revolutionary architectonic conception. Evidences of his passage are
to be seen in Ancona, Macerata and Pesaro. Their marked characteristics
made them easily recognisable. They are in fact elegant brickworks with
typical neo-classic traits. The eighteenth century was a sterile period in
artistic terms in Marche. Just few artists made an exception, among which
Podesti. Only in the last decades of the century an artistic reawakening
was appreciable. The ‘Liberty’ artistic trend served in fact as a
stimulus. As for the twentieth century the abstractionist Osvaldo Licini,
the painter Scipione and trans-vanguard Enzo Cucchi (Morro d’Alba) have
been the leading characters of the artistic experience in this county.
Most artists from Marche have kept contact with their home county even
when they migrated to other cities at the beginning of their artistic
career. This is in fact the case of Scipione (Gino Bonichi). He was born
in Macerata at the beginning of the past century and he soon moved to Rome.
There he became one of the leading personality of the Roman School. He
deeply believed in the power of images. He was a passionate, sensual
artist, main interpreter of the Baroque dissolution. Pericle Fazzini spent
a long time in Rome as well. But like many other artists he never actually
left Grottamare, his home city. He has been called ‘the sculptor of the
winds’. His masterpieces can be seen in the Ascoli and Ancona areas. It
is universally acknowledged great artist thanks to his work ‘La
Resurrezione’ (the Resurrection) on display in the City of Vatican
in Sala Nervi. Valeriano Trubbiani from Macerata (active in Ancona though)
is one of the sculptors that has given more for the artistic prestige of
Marche. His tormented but elegant sculptures tell stories of unimaginable
tortures on animals but also on violated cities.
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