4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2010.

The Piazza Farnese Decorated for a Celebration in Honor of the Marriage of the Dauphin

Artist Giovanni Paolo Panini (Italian, 1691-1765)

CultureItalian

Date1745

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions65 1/2 x 93 1/2 in. (166.4 x 237.5 cm)
Overall, Frame: 77 1/4 × 105 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (196.2 × 268 × 8.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.523

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 208

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. It is a vedute estate, or "exact view", of a specific historical event. Blue skies are covered and framed by cumulous clouds. The open courtyard is filled with busy people, both the wealthy, well-dressed and the more common attending the tasks at hand before the marriage. There is a giant obelisk pointing heavenward in the center of the courtyard. Its circular base ornately decorated with statues, columns and stairs. It is a temple of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom. There are two smaller fountains on each side. Colorful cloths and banners hang from the windows of the courtyard in bright hues of red, gold and blue.

Label TextGiovanni Paolo Panini Italian, 1691–1765 The Piazza Farnese Decorated for a Celebration in Honor of the Marriage of the Dauphin, 1745 Oil on canvas The fanciful temple at the center of this painting may look as permanent as the buildings surrounding it. In fact, it was a temporary structure built of plaster and board that was designed to self-destruct in a burst of fireworks. Europe’s cities often served as stages for elaborate festivals that celebrated its ruling elites, and Giovanni Paolo Panini’s painting documents the festivities inspired by the 1745 wedding of Louis, Dauphin of France. It also proudly records the artist’s own handiwork as a designer. Along with grand urban views like this one, Panini was famed for his festival decorations and fireworks displays. The temple featured here was built from his own plans. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.523 ProvenanceThe Fourth Earl of Howe, Penn House, Amersham, Buckshire until 1930; sale Christies, London, Dec. 7, 1933; David Koetser, New York, 1953; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, 1971. Exhibition History"Italienische Barockmalerei," Galerie Sanct Lucas, Palais Pallavicini, Vienna, May 14 - June 15, 1937. "Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon; Seattle Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Art Institute; St. Louis City Art Museum; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; March 2, 1956 - April 14, 1957. "Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Dec. 2, 1967 - May 15, 1968. "Painting in Italy in the Eighteenth Century: Rococo to Romanticism," The Art Institute of Chicago, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and The Toledo Museum of Art, Sept., 1970 - March 21, 1971. "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N. Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. "La festa a Roma. Dal Rinascimento al 1870", Palazzo Venezia, Rome., May 20 - September 22, 1997. "Palazzo Farnèse, dalle collezioni rinascimentali ad Ambasciata di Francia," French Embassy, Palazzo Farnese, Rome, December 16, 2010 - April 3, 2011. “Eyewitness Views: Making History in the Capitals of Eighteenth-Century Europe,” J. Paul Getty Museum, May 9 – July 30, 2017; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Sept. 10 – Dec. 31, 2017; Cleveland Museum of Art, Feb. 25 – May 20, 2018. Published ReferencesVeranstaltet von der Galerie Sanct Lucas. _Ausstellung Italienische Barockmalerei_. Wien: Die Galerie. 1937. No. 97. Bertina S. Manning. _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_. Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. No. 49. Robert L. Manning. _Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Norfolk: Norfolk Museum of Arts and Science. 1967. No. 62. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. 1977. No. 20. *See for further references. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_, exh. cat., Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1978, 21, 49, no. 12. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, No. 54, Color ill., p. 73. Marcello Fagiolo. _La Festa a Roma dal Rinascimento al 1870_. Rome: E.J. Sands, 1997, color ill. pp. 216-217, catalogue no. A28, p. 240. Rinaldo Alessandrini and Laura Pietrantoni, _La Contesa de' numi_ Volume I & II (Rome, Italy: Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia 2005) p. 66. Volume II is a musical accompaniment to volume I Francesco Buranelli, _Palazzo Farnèse: Dalle collezioni rinacimentali ad Ambasciata di Francia_, exh. cat., Palazzo Farnese, Rome, Italy, 2010, 232, 337-338. Maria Celeste Cola, "L'inventario di Francesco Pannini, Dipinti, disegni e contori nello studio di Palazzo Moroni," _Rivista dell'Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte_ 67 (July 2015) 202-203. Peter Björn Kerber, _Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe_, (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2017), p. 90, fig. 106. Stéphane Loire, _Peintures italiennes du XVIIIe siècle du musée du Louvre_, (Paris: Gallimard and Louvre Editions, 2017), p. 237, fig.103.