An architectural capriccio with figures conversing among classical ruins,
inventory number ‘575’ with the Colonna family crest lower right,
oil on canvas, 73.7 x 98.4 cm, framed

Provenance:
Colonna collection (according to the Colonna family crest lower right);
Private European collection

This architectural capriccio is animated by figures in the right foreground shown studying and discussing the ruins, including the architectural remains of an ancient building and a classical statue set on a high pedestal. In contrast, on the left side of the composition a lone figure with an animal is absorbed in contemplation of the natural landscape and surrounding lake. This choice of themes corresponds with the Arcadian atmosphere that envelops the figures: indeed, they are held in a delicate balance within the countryside setting and are seemingly in complete harmony with it.

The inventory number at lower right, followed by a pictographic column, signals the work’s provenance from the noble Roman House of Colonna. Their immense family collection contained many similar works to the present painting by Andrea Locatelli (1695–1741) and Alberto Carlieri (1672 – circa 1720) among others.

Indeed, in the 1783 inventory of Palazzo Colonna, Rome, for example, there are no less than 81 paintings listed by Andrea Locatelli and an entire room is described as ornamented with landscapes by this artist. A large part of the Colonna collection was dispersed when Filippo III Colonna (1760–1818) who had only female heirs, gave paintings as dowries to his daughters, Margherita, Vittoria and Maria. As a result, the paintings of the collection gradually entered other noble collections, including those of the Rospigliosi, Pallavicini and Barberini or were sold.