LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM Wien

PALACE PAINTINGS

Even though Prince Johann Adam Andreas I failed in his attempt to attract Marcantonio Franceschini to Vienna to paint his frescos, he was eventually able to persuade him to produce almost all of the oil paintings required for the palace.

Although the Prince originally intended to cover all the palace’s interior walls with a unified scheme of oil paintings, he was soon forced to realise that this plan was unfeasible in terms of both time and finances. He therefore resorted to other methods and techniques of interior decoration. Piece by piece, he ordered oil paintings from Franceschini to fill the various ceiling medallions.

Marcantonio Franceschini (1618–1729)
Apollo and Diana slay the Python, 1692–1709
Oil on canvas, 176 x 209 cm
Inv. no. G 1

Franceschini grew up in Bologna with the classicism of Annibale Carraci, a style that led an independent, unbroken existence there parallel to the baroque throughout the 17th century. Domenichino, Reni and Albani continued the tradition, and Franceschini was able to develop it further.




Left: Marcantonio Franceschini (1618–1729) The Birth of Apollo and Diana, 1692–1709 Oil on canvas, 175 x 210 cm Inv. no. G 29 Right: Marcantonio Franceschini (1648–1729) Venus and Adonis Hunting, 1692–1709 Oil on canvas, 479 x 254 cm Inv. no. G 77




He was particularly rigorous in his execution of the classicist style, and strove for absolute clarity in the depiction of narrative. Exploring the classic, ancient canon of the human figure, he idealised not the beauty of the form itself, but the beauty of the line as a stylistic device. Important for clarity was also the uniform employment of light. Colours were subordinate to form: they had to provide clear definition, rather than become a vehicle of expression in their own right.



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