Pair Of Oil On Canvas, Circle Of Marco Ricci (1676-1730), Country Landscapes

MARCO RICCI (1676-1730), CIRCLE OF
COUNTRY LANDSCAPES, ANIMATED WITH CHARACTERS
Pair of oils on canvas.
Each one presented in an 18th century carved and gilded wood Venetian frame.
H. 37 x W. 43 cm.

History
Nephew of the great Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734), Marco Ricci was the renovator of the Venetian landscape school at the beginning of the 18th century. His composed landscapes, peopled with small figures captured in anecdote, with tormented skies, embellished in the distance with cities nestled in the mountains or ruins by the riverside, will be highly appreciated for the decoration of palaces, in Veneto as in Great Britain.
Retired by the Earl of Manchester, he went there twice, in 1708-1710 then 1711-1714, allowing him to reach a public of great means and to infuse this Italomania in England, a phenomenon that would become, in the next generation, proverbial.
When the phenomenon of Grand-Tourism became more widespread, Venice became an obligatory stage, to the great benefit of the painters Canaletto and Guardi who, not content to draw from Ricci's works the genesis of their stars and capricci, enjoyed the considerable descent of his clientele.