Giovanni Paolo Panini

Collection Fabroni, Pistoia;

Collection Comte Carlo Gamba, Florence.

S. Fermi, 'Fortune e infortuni recenti di G.P. Panini', in Bollettino Storico Piacentino, 1931, p. 54;

L. Ozzola, 'Nuove aggiunte al Panini', in Rassegna di Piacenza, XIX, 1941, p. 25, fig. 2;

F. Arisi, Gian Paolo Panini, Piacenza 1961, pp. 156-157, cat. nos. 121-122, fig. 172-173;

E. Brunetti, 'Il Panini e la monografia di F. Arisi', in Arte Antica e Moderna, 26, 1964, p. 179;

F. Arisi, Gian Paolo Panini e i fasti della Roma del '700, Rome 1986, pp. 34, 124, 210, 239, 328, 335, 336, 364, 369, 371, nos. 272-273.

Venice, Il Settecento italiano: catalogo generale della mostra e delle sezioni, 1929;

Milan, Giovanni Paolo Panini 1691-1765, 1993, n° 121-122.

These two fine paintings are perfect examples of Giovanni Paolo Panini's art. Painted in Rome in 1739 when the artist was in his prime, they are described by the author of the artist's catalogue raisonné, Ferdinando Arisi, as “gioielli di perfezione assoluta” (see F. Arisi, 1986, p. 124). They also come from the Fabroni family in Pistoia and belonged to Count Carlo Gamba.

The Capriccio with a Sibyl in front of the pyramid of Cestius and the Capriccio with an apostle preaching are outstanding examples of Giovanni Paolo Panini’s painting, from the collection of the Florentine art historian Carlo Gamba.

Panini was active in Rome, where he found success as the principal painter of vedute in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. Probably trained by Bibiena, the architecture painter, Panini settled in Rome in 1711. In 1718, he joined the Pontifical Academy of Fine Art and Letters of the Virtuosi at the Pantheon and not long after became a member of the Accademia di San Luca, where he was elected principe in 1754. He was also admitted to the French Academy in Rome in 1732. From early in his career he worked for the great Roman families, but in the 1730s he quickly began to receive commissions from royal and aristocratic patrons in France, England and Spain, especially Philip V. His success was such that he headed up a large workshop in order to fulfil the large and growing number of commissions.

We know of two other paintings by Panini featuring a Sibyl with a similar composition. One is in the Museo Civico in Piacenza and comes from the Fabroni collection in Pistoia; the other is in the Louvre (inv. MI 873) and comes from the La Caze collection. The present Sibyl in front of the pyramid of Cestius is especially interesting partly because it is dated, unlike the two other versions, and partly because it seems that Panini enlarged his composition to create a more finished version. The dog in the other two versions has been replaced by a sprawling man in armour, elements of the ruins have been modified and two conversing men enliven the background in front of the pyramid. Moreover, in this version Panini chose a more luminous treatment, with the addition of light effects.

In his catalogue raisonné of Panini’s oeuvre (see Literature), Arisi notes that there is a faithful but smaller copy (0,405 x 0,495 m.) of the Capriccio with an apostle preaching, perhaps painted by his son Francesco, in a private collection in Venice. He also mentions an autograph replica, dating to about 1750, which was sold in New York in 1959, since when all trace of it has been lost.

This superb pair of paintings bears witness to Panini’s talent and to the individuality of his art. He stands out from his contemporaries for his more picturesque approach to monuments and for his dramatic compositions.