The Roman Carneval

The Opening of the Carnival at Rome

Figures in carnival dress in front of the Obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo and along the Corso behind, some preparing horses for the race, with a herald on horseback playing the folded trumpet in front of a soldier seating on the ground leaning on a ceremonial drum, a harlequin dancing with a Fraschetana girl to the sound of a tambourine in the centre, a Jewish family near them, a poet speaking extempore; next to two street musicians, one playing the lute and other one with his hand out begging, a man showing an English lady the obelisk to the left, behind them a sweetmeat crier and a bored Chevalier of Malta and drummer, on the carriage a group of musicians with a conductor who is wearing a mask, with one of the figures carrying a flagon and waving it in the air. Etching and aquatint, lettered below the image with the title in light filled letters, continuing 'The Obelisk near the Porta del Popolo.' and scratched 'D Allan Invt. / P Sandby Fecit / Publish'd as the act directs by P Sandby St Georges Row Oxford Turnpike June 4th 1780'.

The Romans Polite to Strangers

The Baragello or city marshal on horseback looking up at the balcony of the Palazzo Ruspoli to left, where illustrious foreigners have been made welcome, receiving orders for the race from them out of politesse, with figures in carnival dress in the Corso below including, to right, lawyers dressed as Punch to right, some disputing, a notary consulting papers from ta basket on the floor and a boy writing 'Frate' on the back of a disguised priest who walks with a lady and to left, a boy leading a dog dressed ina harlequin coat and a demon selling horns, carrying a placard 'Corne a Vendere'. Etching and aquatint, lettered below the image with the title in open letters, continuing 'Palazzo Ruspoli al Corso Rome.' and scratched 'D Allan Invt. / P Sandby Fecit / Publish'd as the act directs by P Sandby 1st Jany. 1781'.

The horse race at Rome during the carnival

A view of Piazza del Popolo; several horses race down the Corso, flanked on both side by buildings and crowds in stands, some spectators waving flags lettered "Palia corso", and "Palia primo". In the foreground is a large group of revellers, some with masks, engaged in various activities.  Etching and aquatint, lettered within image, lettered below the image with the title in light filled letters and: "D. Allan Delt. / P. Sandby Fecit / Piazza del Popolo. / Publish'd as the Act directs by P: Sandby 1st. Jany. 1781."

The Victor Conducted in Triumph

View of the Piazza San Marco with the old Venetian ambassador's palace and the Bolognetti palace, at the end of the Corso with a piece of canvas fixed across the street to stop the horses, overlooked by the judge who sits in a balcony, the winning horse in the foreground to left, rearing as it is led past the spectators in stands to the right, accompanied by a servant of the senator on horseback blowing a trumpte and holding a piece of rich brocade inscribed 'Victoria' on a pole, the way cleared by a Roman constable, with a Neapolitan and Venetian sciro and a Bochinese of the Venetian state grouped in the right foreground. Etching and aquatint, lettered below the image with the title in open letters and scratched "D. Allan Delt. / P. Sandby Fecit / Piazza St. Marco. / Publish'd as the Act directs by P: Sandby 1st. Jany. 1781."

Complete series of the four famous Roman carnival views engraved by Sandby from drawings by David Allan (Alloa 1744 - Edinburgh 1796). The vast majority of paintings, etchings, watercolors and drawings illustrating Roman carnival festivities with an excess of "color" is contrasted by this series, which depicts those same festive events with a dry, witty look while noting their hidden elegance and sumptuousness. Sandby's aquatints are taken from a series of ten drawings by Allan made during his Roman sojourns and now housed in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.

Paul Sandby was a landscape painter and printmaker. David Allan was one of the first painters in Scotland to record the everyday life of ordinary people. He was based in Rome from around 1767 to 1777 where he painted historical subjects, portraits and the everyday life around him in a series of watercolours. In Scotland he enjoyed a successful career as both an artist and a teacher of art.

Some of David Allan's watercolours of Rome were copied by Paul Sandby in London, as prints. The technique of aquatint (used here) allowed the engraver to create the effect of colour washes with the addition of etched lines for detail. This is a technique that provides an additional layer of meaning to the scene. The aquatint allows tonal variation and contrast which in turn creates atmosphere. There is a tremendous amount of detail in the print, and any British observer at the time would have received a good impression of what Rome was like from this print. Sandby's re-creation of Allan's watercolour would have made the image much more accessible through multiple copies. Only the most popular or marketable images would be copied as prints. The composition is quite complex. The background of the street and buildings is rendered with single point perspective, where the landscape appears to recede away to a single point in the distance. The viewpoint Allan chose was a low one. This means that the buildings appear to loom over the scene and a lot of sky is shown. In contrast, the action on the ground occupies only the lower third of the composition; Allan did not "zoom in" on any one aspect but created a general view of the scene. In this view, two British travellers on horseback are confronted by the extravagant costumes and masked figures from the entertainers at a Roman carnival. Despite their politeness these grotesque figures are slightly disturbing. Perhaps this scene demonstrates the alien and disorientating feeling of visiting a new city and discovering bizarre customs which the traveller has never experienced before.

In 1780, David Allan wrote to Sir William Hamilton that Sandby had purchased eight bistre drawings of the Carnival which he had made when still in Rome in 1775 and made a series of aquatints which he sold at a guinea a set. He may have been motivated by the success of the series of twenty-four aquatints after Neapolitan views by Pietro Fabris which he engraved and published in collaboration with Archibald Robertson in 1777-1782.

The introduction to this set emphasises the decorum, good humour and lack of drunkeness or riot of the Carnival, despite the mix of different levels of society, noting that it is ordered by masks (except for priests and religious) which, unlike in the masquerades in protestant countires, group people of different nations and Italian districts together and are put on and taken off at the sounding of a bell. Concerning the scenes themselves, it provides the following comment on their truthful ntaure: 'The Characters or Figures represented in the Prints are partly dresses of the country, and partly fancy dresses, the Carnival is composed of both: they have been grouped and arranged; but the several Views are faithful portraits of different parts of Rome, and all the Characters, whether real or fancy, were drawn from nature.'.

Bibliografia

Gunn, The Prints of Paul Sandby (1731-1809): a catalogue raisonné nn. 278, 279, 280, 281.