A brief exploration of the wildly forgotten art style, Capriccio

Style: Capriccio.

Origins: Italy.

Category: landscapes.

Era: Renaissance, Baroque.

Characteristics: Architectural/archaeological fantasy.

We've been blessed by many art styles, genres or movements over the centuries: from the solemn relationship between humans and their environment of the Romantic era, to the spellbinding beauty of exceptionalism and dramatism of the Rococo movement. But seldom do we hear about hidden gems which shaped or influenced a few art movements, usually obscured and forgotten, but yielded impressive results, nonetheless.

One such art style is Capriccio, an Italian art style, introduced during the Renaissance combining semi-fictitious and fantastical elements - also known as architectural fantasy - whereby buildings (usually archaeological ruins) are portrayed in a stylised, idealised or somewhat exaggerated setting. Though, sometimes the artist will focus more on the subjects than the architecture itself. One could essentially describe the style as a movement which appeals to the aesthetics of the viewer through subtle warm tones juxtaposed against dark and complex ones, creating a sombre mood, overall.

There were three painters renowned for their Capriccio paintings: Giovanni Paolo Pannini, William Hamilton and Hubert Robert. See their paintings here respectively.

Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Italian (1691 - 1765)
Portrait of Panini by Louis Gabriel Blanchet
Hermes Appears to Calypso, 1718

William Hamilton, English (1751 - 1801)
Portrait of William Hamilton by Thomas Lawrence, 1788
Classical Ruins, 1778

Hubert Robert, French (1733 - 1808)
Portrait of Hubert Robert by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
Ruins with an obelisk in the distance, 1775

🐺Æthelwulf🐺

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