Lot 168: SIMON-JOSEPH-ALEXANDRE-CLÉMENT DENIS ANTWERP 1755 - 1813 NAPLES

THE GROTTO AT VICOVARO

measurements note
9 1/2 by 13 3/4 in.; 24.1 by 35 cm.

signed and inscribed in ink on the verso Dans le Grotto de Vicovaro / S^n. Denis and numbered 143; also inscribed in pencil in a later hand Simon Denis Peintre Flamand du / XVIII siècle . Les tableaux sont exposés / au Musée du Louvre (Paris) / au Musée du Compiègne / au Musée de Montpellier / au Musée d'Anvers (Belgique)

oil on paper

NOTE

A picturesque town of just 4,000 inhabitants, Vicovaro is located north of Rome and in close proximity to Tivoli. It was absorbed into the Roman Empire in the 5^th century BC. Tivoli's dark grottos have always intrigued visitors to the town and would have held romantic appeal for Denis. In the present painting, the dark, towering bluff obscures the light, providing an ideal atmosphere to study the effects of light and dark. The boulders also add to the complexity of the scene, and give the artist another opportunity to refine the dramatic chiaroscuro in the composition.