Ancient Ruins With Arsenal. Leonardo Coccorante And Workshop (1680-1750)

Oil on its original canvas (so-called Roman canvas) **The small white dots are reflections due to the photo, and not visible naturally. Presented in its period frame in molded and gilded wood, model called "Salvator Rosa" Total dimensions: 97 x 122 cm. The canvas alone: 75 x 100 cm. On our painting, the painter has chosen to represent, as usual, an ancient building. It is probably a military arsenal where blacksmiths are busy on the left, we can see cannons, a navy anchor and barrels of gunpowder. The scene is powerfully lit by a strong light from the setting sun, forming very marked shadows and inducing a most decorative effect. Leonardo Coccorante (Naples, November 8, 1680 - Naples, 1750) was a pre-romantic Neapolitan painter of the early 18th century known for fine and detailed painting depicting imaginary landscapes with ancient ruins and classical architecture. He often places his figures in the foreground in order to highlight the enormity of the ruins. Coccorante is classified as a painter of views (veduta). He began in the studio of Jan Frans van Bloemen, known as L'Orizzonte (1662-1749), where he was introduced to landscape painting. He was then a pupil of Angelo Maria Costa (1670-1721), then of Gabriele Ricciardelli, a Vedutist painter active between 1741 and 1777. His works are rarely signed and dated or precisely documented. Despite everything, he received a certain number of royal commissions which make it possible to trace his development. He notably executed overdoors for the palaces of Naples and Caserta, in 1738, on the occasion of the marriage of Charles de Bourbon with Marie-Amélie de Saxe. He also executed, the following year, two paintings, View of Naples seen from Calascione and The Palace of the Regi Studi, today kept in a private Neapolitan collection. Coccorante was very interested in atmospheric effects, storms, shipwrecks, or moonlight, as in the very beautiful Ruins at the edge of the sea, storm effect of the museum of Grenoble, announcing the research of great landscape painters such as Vernet. Its monumental architectures are sometimes animated by biblical or mythological scenes, as in the Ruins with Christ and the adulteress of the museum of Copenhagen. In the years 1745-1750, Coccorante returned to more realistic views of Naples and its environs, in the tradition of his master Costa's Vedute, probably intended for travelers on the Grand Tour. He sometimes worked in collaboration with painters specializing in figures, who came to animate his compositions. Very good state of conservation! Sold with invoice & certificate