ambito di Ascanio Luciani

The work is to be considered as belonging to the circle of Ascanio Luciani.

It is believed that he was born in Naples in 1621. The news concerning his life is scarce: he probably frequented the shop by the architectural painter Viviano Codazzi, after he took up residence in Naples in 1634. This hypothesis is based on the fact that Luciani's early works are very similar to those of Codazzi, to the point of being often confused with each other.

The artist can be considered one of the main vedutisti of the seventeenth century after Viviano Codazzi, of which he was a pupil, with the difference that Luciani, including certain aspects of Roman bambocciante painting, will modulate his teachings thanks to a more narrative and less dramatic nature, thus softening the more realistic and degraded facets.

Painter of architecture of the Baroque period, Luciani is best known for his architectural paintings, caprices, compositions with figures among the ruins and some views. In his works he always shows a profound knowledge of perspective.

The type of decorative architectural paintings created by Luciani became a popular genre in mid-17th century Rome.

The result is a painting that combines the story of genre with the elegance of classicism, ennobled by sumptuous fantasy architectures. Its production, especially during maturity, precedes fully eighteenth-century results.