The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo
Original title: The Girandola at the Castel Sant'Angelo
kurzbeschreibung
Louis Jean Desprez's hand-coloured etching brings the legendary Girandola fireworks before Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome vividly to life. The undated upright sheet presents the fortress surrounded by a vast crowd while countless fireworks detonate overhead.
Description
Crowds press tightly around Castel Sant'Angelo across the stairways and paths, the fortress anchoring the middle of the picture. Orange and blue fireworks light up the sky and bathe the whole event in dramatic light. Trails of smoke heighten the intensity of the celebration. Along the left edge appear buildings and boats on the water, suggesting the festivities were held on the riverbank. The largely dark palette is broken with striking effect by the glowing accents of the fireworks.
Context
The Frenchman Louis Jean Desprez (1743–1804) worked in Rome as an architect and painter and became known for his vedute and festival scenes. Since the sixteenth century the Girandola, a famous fireworks display at Castel Sant'Angelo, had drawn numerous artists. During the 1770s and 1780s Desprez stayed in Rome and collaborated with Giovanni Battista Piranesi. The sheet was presumably made during this phase, though a precise dating remains open.
Impact
The overwhelming splendour of the fireworks and the exuberant mood of the crowd can be felt at once. Dark tones and luminous colour accents create a dramatic, almost theatrical tension. The viewer is drawn into the nocturnal festivities.
Technique
An etching subsequently hand-coloured with watercolour or wash is what we have here. While the etching supplies precise contours and details of architecture and figures, the hand-colouring gives the fireworks their brilliance. The large-format sheet (70.5 x 48.6 cm) allows the scene to be rendered in rich detail.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)