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Old Market of Florence

Antonio Fontanesi, 1867

Old Market of Florence (Mercato vecchio di Firenze) is an oil on canvas by Antonio Fontanesi, dated 1867. It belongs to the Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. It is an unusual city subject from a painter best known for landscapes.

Where to see it

The painting is held by the Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, often called GAM) in Turin, Italy. Works in a large collection are not always on view, so check the museum's official website for current display status, opening hours and ticketing before you go. The gallery's record for this work carries the identifier 3970. Quoting that number when you contact the museum can help staff confirm whether the painting is on view.

What to look for in person

A landscape painter in the city

Fontanesi is remembered mainly for landscapes, where atmosphere and changing light matter more than precise detail. Here he turns to an urban subject, Florence's old market district. In front of the canvas, notice how a painter trained on open countryside handles buildings, street space and daylight. Ask yourself whether the architecture reads as a setting for light and air rather than a record of facades. That tension between the city as a place and the city as atmosphere is a good way into the picture.

Florence, 1867

The work is dated 1867, the year Fontanesi settled in the Florentine studio of the painter Cristiano Banti. Banti belonged to the circle of Tuscan artists known as the Macchiaioli. They built images from patches of light and shadow and often painted everyday scenes from direct observation. Looking at this canvas with that context in mind, consider how far Fontanesi's approach shares their interest in ordinary places and strong tonal contrasts. Consider also where it keeps the softer, more lyrical mood found in his landscapes.

Reading the surface

The painting is executed in oil on canvas. It rewards a two-step viewing. First stand back to take in the overall arrangement of light and dark masses and the sense of depth. Then move closer to see how the forms are built up in paint. Look at how edges are handled: some may be crisp, others softened or merged into their surroundings. The way the brushwork shifts between distance and close range shows how the painter builds an impression of a lived-in place.

About the painting

Antonio Fontanesi (1818-1882) was born in Reggio Emilia. He became one of the leading Italian landscape painters of the nineteenth century. Before settling in Italy he spent years abroad. His painting absorbed lessons from French landscape art, especially the tonal, atmospheric manner associated with the Barbizon painters and Camille Corot. In 1867, the date of this canvas, he settled in Florence in the studio of Cristiano Banti. That placed him in close contact with the Tuscan painters who were rethinking how to record light and everyday life. Old Market of Florence belongs to this Florentine moment. Its subject, the city's old market area, is a working urban district rather than a celebrated monument or an idealised countryside view. For visitors, this is part of its interest. It records a corner of Florence through the eyes of an artist whose main concern was atmosphere. Florence's historic market quarter was cleared in the later nineteenth century to reshape the city centre. Views of the area therefore carry added interest today as images of a place that no longer looks the same. Fontanesi later moved to Turin and taught landscape painting at the Accademia Albertina. He also spent time in Japan as one of the first teachers of Western-style painting there. That later career helps explain why his work is well represented in Turin. The painting now belongs to the Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, where it sits within a wider collection of nineteenth-century Italian art.

Key facts

More by Antonio Fontanesi

• April
• Plateau in Bugey
• Cloud

Sources

• Wikipedia (it) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Europeana