Italian school (XX) - Viandanti

The work was purchased around 1980 at an antique stall in Rome near Porta Portese.

The painting appeared very dark and the figures as well as the landscape were muddy and almost indistinguishable.

After the restoration a painterly sensibility emerged with traces of passion, energy and nervousness and with the use of vivid colors. In the restorer's text, beyond the technical description of the restoration, the artist's painting technique is well framed.

Looking at the painting there are some elements that do not clash at all with the world of the Roman School and perhaps of Scipione: the visionary construction of the landscape, the figures seen from behind or in motion, the liquid and nervous painterly matter, the incandescent browns with acid greens and deep blues, the emotive distortion of space, that sort of “luminous fever” typical of the Roman School between 1929-31.

In particular the climate resembles more the emotional landscapes of Collepardo and the views than the better-known cardinal works. Some useful points of comparison are the landscapes from 1930 and certain “Borghi” in Rome that you will find attached.

The restoration revealed: a glued and cohered cardboard (cartone telato) coherent with the 1930s, pigments and preparation compatible, painterly technique congruent.