GASPAR VAN WITTEL (1653-1736) also known as VANVITELLI

Castel Sant’ Angelo seeing from the South (1690-1700)

Oil on canvas measures unknown

Private collection

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Gaspar van Wittel began his studies in his hometown Amersfoort, training under the landscape painter Jan van der Heyden. In 1675 his family moved to Rome, where he would spend most of his life. It was in Italy where he began to draw accurate topographical views of the city and of the countryside; these drawings were the basis of his pictures or vedute (view) as they were called. He can be considered as the creator of the genre in Italy. In some cases, the paintings reproduced faithfully the actual view but others called capriccio (folly) were imaginary views where famous Roman monuments were combined to give an epic grandeur to the landscape.

Between 1694 and 1710 he travelled through Italy visiting, Florence, Bologna, Ferrara, Milan, Venice and Naples producing numerous views of these cities. Back in Rome, he carried on painting vedute including the residences of some of the most distinguished members of the Roman aristocracy; the Odescalchi, the Colonna and the Albani. His work was favoured, among others, by the British aristocrats travelling on their Grand Tour. He was, and still is, known as Vanvitelli by the Italians, in fact, his son Luigi, a distinguished architect, kept the Italian version of the surname.

In this case, what we do have here is a factual view of the famous papal fortress where Clement VII took shelter during the Sack of Rome in 1527. Built by Emperor Hadrian is also known as the Hadrian’s Mausoleum. In the year 403, it became part of the Aurelian Wall, a ring of defences around the city. The present name of the castle goes back to 590 when a cruel plague hit the city of Rome, the Pope at that time, Gregorius I, had a vision of the archangel St. Michael on top of the castle putting his sword back in the scabbard, that signalled the end of the plague, to commemorate the miracle a statue of Saint Michael was placed on top of the castle. Since 1277 the castle has been connected to the Vatican by a fortified corridor 800 metres long.