venetian art, 1600–1797 829
is no reason to imagine a clear preference on the part of patrons for the
nascent barochetto to the detriment of a classicism along the lines of Carlo
Maratta. and if it is impossible to argue for homogeneity among the art-
ists active in this period of time, given that in the city there were “as many
styles as there were painters,”49 such a variety was seen by contempo-
raries as anything but troubling; it was generally perceived as a source of
richness and strength. this can be verified, for example, in a public con-
text such as that of the Scuola Grande della Carità.50 in 1700, the Scuola’s
chapter was discussing the possibility of renovating the building’s interior
decorative apparatus,51 and for the occasion requests were sent to art-
ists different in both age and style: Giovanni antonio Fiumani, Gregorio
Lazzarini, Simone Brentana, Giovanni Segala, Sebastiano ricci, antonio
Balestra, and angelo trevisani (Fig. 22.6). When the decorative campaign
was concluded, on 3 april 1704, Doge alvise ii Mocenigo made an official
visit to the Scuola and “saw every niche covered with wonderful paintings
of the most famous brushes of the present century.”52 if public patrons
showed no particular predilection for one style or another, there is no
reason to assume such a preference on the part of private citizens for the
avanguardie. an example to this effect is represented by the proper blend
of classicism and barocchetto present by the beginning of the 18th century
in the hall of Palazzo Pisani in Santo Stefano.53 Dorigny and Balestra on
one side and ricci and Pellegrini on the other face off in an artistic contest
where, happily, it is a rigor in disegno that prevails and, far from clipping
the wings of the so-called coloristi, it merely confers them a singular and
unusual luster. in 1709, Gregorio Barbarigo of Santa Maria del Giglio called
upon Balestra, together with ricci and Bambini, to execute a large canvas
“of a history of his most excellent House” to be placed in the portego of
their seigniorial palace on the Grand Canal. the celebratory paintings of
the glories of the Barbarigo line would be added to the others already in
situ, defined as “modern paintings” and portraying the “histories” of the
49 Zanetti, Della pittura veneziana, p. 396; Craievich, Antonio Molinari, pp. 11–30.
50 Bernard aikema, “Molinari & Co.: riflessioni sul Momento internazionale Della Pit-
tura Veneziana fra Sei e Settecento,” Arte veneta 63 (2006, 2007), 203–08.
51 Lino Moretti, “Documenti e appunti su Sebastiano ricci (con qualche altro cenno su
altri pittori del Settecento),” Saggi e memorie di storia dell’arte 11 (1978), 106–07.
52 Cited in Massimo Favilla and ruggero rugolo, “‘Con pena, e con penello’: Simone
Brentana e Sebastiano ricci,” Verona Illustrata 22 (2009), 45.
53 Marinelli, “L’arrivo di Dorigny nelle sue nuove patrie,” pp. 82–83; Massimo Favilla
and ruggero rugolo, “Un pittore ‘reale.’ Riflessioni su Louis Dorigny,” Studi veneziani, n.s.
50 (2005, 2006), 156.