Capriccio with Classical Arch and Goats
by MARIESCHI, Michele, Oil on canvas, 55 x 82 cm
This painting is the pendant of the Capriccio with Gothic Building and Obelisk. One of the artist’s happiest capriccios, this picture combines the painterly fluency of Marco Ricci with the flashing sketchiness of Gianantonio Guardi and the chromatic freshness of Zuccarelli.
The distant, barely hinted landscape, the ruined arch, the foliage built up with deft, vivacious strokes, the scintillating luminosity - all mark the work as characteristic of the artist at the zenith of his short career.