Alessandro Sanquirico (milan, 1777-1849), Four Theatrical Scenes And A View Of Milan

Alessandro Sanquirico (Milan, 1777-1849)

Four theatrical scenes and a view of Milan

watercolor on paper, (5) cm 6.5 x 8- With frame: (4) cm 11 x 12; (1) cm 16 x 18

signed in the bottom right "A Sanquirico"

These five sophisticated watercolor miniatures are the work of Alessandro Sanquirico and represent some scenographies he designed for the Teatro alla Scala and the Teatro Carcano between 1827 and 1832, a period in which the artist was absolute protagonist of the scaligera scene, as well as a view of the ephemeral monument erected in 1835 to commemorate the death of the then Habsburg emperor Francis I. Made with great technical expertise and a peculiar attention to detail, the five small miniatures illustrate: The backdrop for the first painting of the first act of Giovanni Pacini’s drama The Last Day of Pompeii, first brought to the scene at La Scala in the autumn of 1827. The watercolor in question is of particular interest since the engraving corresponding to it appears within a volume that presents the scenographies of the Last Day of Pompeii, published in a very limited number of copies in Milan in 1829. The background for the second painting of the first act of Giovanni Pacini’s drama The Last Day of Pompeii: in the scene, the passage of the characters from the drama is represented by Porta Nolana. This engraving corresponding to the scene of the Passage from door Nolana is also present in the volume of 1829.

The backdrop for a scene from the famous drama La Norma by Vincenzo Bellini, in the original version staged at La Scala on the occasion of the 1832 Carnival. In the scene is represented the Temple of Irminsul, a sacred deity to the gallows, who, in the scene represented at this moment, near the place of worship, vigorously exult for liberation from the Roman yoke.