Andrea Casali ( 1705 - 1784), Study By Profile Of Woman

Andrea Casali (Rome, 1705 - 1784)

Study by profile of woman

Oil on canvas, cm 60 x 50

With frame, cm 72 x 63

Critical card Prof. Alessandro Agresti

Andrea Casali (Rome, 17 November 1705 - Rome, 7 September 1784) was an Italian painter, a prominent exponent of Rococo. Born in Rome to a modest tailor from Lucca, he trained at the workshops of Sebastiano Conca and Francesco Trevisani, assimilating their elegant and refined style. Already in 1725, at the age of twenty, he participated in the painting competition of the Academy of San Luca, finishing in second place, demonstrating his early talent. His fame grew rapidly, thanks to the protection of influential personalities such as Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and the recommendations of Trevisani himself. In 1737 he was already considered "one of the first young people who presently are in Rome" (Adami). In his works Casali confirms, in fact, a certain equidistance between the two masters - to whom several times his paintings have been erroneously attributed - but with an allure and a noble elegance of French taste. Qualities perfectly supported by the usual refinement of clothing and the delicacy of the faces in his paintings, which well substantiate the intimate participation of Casali to the fortunes of the Rococo, that he had the opportunity to refine with his stays in Paris and especially in London. In fact, after the death in 1740 of his patron, Cardinal Ottoboni, Casali decided to go to England, accepting the invitation of some English gentlemen, including Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle and Sir Charles Frederick. Arriving in the United Kingdom in the spring of 1741, after a brief stay in Paris, he was admitted to the Academie Royale de Peinture in January 1741. His long stay, which lasted more than two decades, was interrupted by a trip to Germany and the Netherlands in 1748, during which he portrayed William IV of Orange-Nassau and by a stay in Rome of some months between 1763 and 1764. In the fifties of the eighteenth century he devoted himself particularly to portrait painting, religious painting and decorative. He exhibited at the Society of Artists and the Free Society, winning four awards between 1760 and 1766. Around 1767 he returned to Rome and remained there until the year of his death. Also in the Eternal City it continued to be very popular, establishing itself especially in sacred iconography. He also devoted himself with great success to pagan, mythological and poetic themes. 

Casali’s style is distinguished by the absolute elegance of his figures, especially the feminine ones, the extreme refinement of the lines and the compositional harmony. His paintings are characterized by a clear, bright and vibrant palette, a fluid brushstroke and great attention to detail. Casali excelled in the representation of figurative scenes, both sacred and profane, often populated by idealized figures and immersed in theatrical scenography: his work fits fully into the vein of Rococo, interpreting at best the canons of grace, lightness and decorativism.

The painting in question, in an excellent state of preservation and of very high pictorial quality, would most likely constitute a preparatory study for a work of greater dimensions and commitment. Of great value is the bold glimpse of the shoulders with which the woman is depicted, made without hindrance, as well as the attention paid to the details of the complex hairstyle, the translucent colors and the infinite delicacy of physiognomy. 

The object is in good condition