La Roma di Achille Pinelli. Acquerelli 1832-1835

Son of the more famous Bartolomeo, Achille Pinelli was born in Rome in 1809 and died in Naples in 1841. Between 1832 and 1835 the painter created a series of approximately two hundred watercolours, all of which are conserved in the collections of the Museo di Roma, depicting the city's churches, with episodes from the daily life of the working and middle classes in the foreground. Many buildings which no longer exist today are depicted in these views, and although there is some imprecision and creative license, they provide precious evidence of corners of the city that have disappeared, or changed radically over the course of the years. The animated scenes which enliven the views recall Bartolomeo's style, as, for instance, in the watercolour scene set near the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which shows in the foreground the traditional celebrations of the Abruzzi mountain dwellers, culminating in the "dance of the bear" or the ritual feast of strawberries that took place in the piazza in front of the Pantheon on the 13th June, Saint Anthony's day, when a small statue of the saint, in a tabernacle decorated with strawberries and leaves, was carried in a procession through the streets of the city. Also exhibited, in homage to the style of his father Bartolomeo, scenes illustrating the picturesque life of the period in Rome taken from the latter's most famous engravings. On display, for instance, are The cobbler's shop, in which the shop and the cobbler's tools are recreated in minute and exact detail, or The cart of the grape harvest festival in which Achille Pinelli depicts, with great freshness, the Roman "minenti", young Romans outstanding for their ingenuity and vivacity, returning from the feast trip to the countryside. The selection of seventy works on display in Palazzo Braschi exhibition halls, pays homage, therefore, to one of the major figures of the Roman art world of the Nineteenth century, and is an example of how the vast heritage conserved in the collections of the Museo di Roma can be utilized.