Italian school of the 17th century. Circle of VIVIANO CODAZZI (Bergamo, ca. 1604 - 1670). "Caprice. Oil on canvas. Re-drawn in the 19th century. Frame of the 19th century. Measurements: 86,5 x 107 cm; 107 x 130 cm (frame). This "Capricho", close to the circle of Viviano Codazzi, offers a panoramic landscape constructed from the of several monuments of classical style, to which the romantic concept of the ruin is added. It shows an idealised landscape in which a series of ruins of clear Roman influence stand out, such as the remains of an arch on the left of theposition, porticoed colonnades at the front, etc. The genre of the landscape view with ruins or classical monuments, real or invented, enjoyed great success in the Baroque period and was widely influential in later centuries. Viviano Codazzi left his native city of Bergamo to emigrate to Naples, where he trained as a painter with Cosimo Fanzago. In Naples he also worked with Domenico Gargiulo to create landscape views of a legendary and evocative nature. Gargiulo specialised in figures, while Codazzi foced on architectural perspectives and landscapes with ruins. Later, owing to the conflictive political atmosphere in Naples, he moved to Rome, where he worked as an architectural and landscape painter alongside Antoine Gobau, Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Jan Miel, Filippo Lauri and Vicente Giner. In Rome he came into contact with the circle of Dutch painters, the so-called "bamboccianti", led by Pieter van Laer, who had a considerable influence on him. In Rome he worked with both fantastic and realistic landscapes, and one of his best-known works in this respect is Saint Peter's Basilica, one of the last depictions of the famo building before Bernini's interventions and the creation of his magnificent colonnade. Codazzi's views, which despite being imaginative always retain a certain degree of verisimilitude, had a powerful influence on the next generation of landscape painters, the "vedutists" such as Canaletto and Bernardo Bellotto. He developed a personal language which, in contrast to the heroic character of the landscape derived from the Carracci, imaginatively interprets buildings and ruins, but always respecting verisimilitude, playing with the lighting to obtain typically Baroque expressive effects that enhance the appearance of the ancient-looking buildings, populated by small, popular figures.Dimensions: 86,5 x 107 cm; 107 x 130 cm (frame).