Marco Marcola

Marco Marcola came from a widely ramified Veronese family of painters and was trained by his father, Giovanni Battista (1711–1780). He produced a considerable number of religious paintings and fresco decorations in and around Verona and also worked as a stage-designer. At times there is a certain provincialism in Marcola’s painting, which occasionally suffers from technical shortcomings. His graphic work, on the other hand, reveals a freer and less inhibited spirit. The present drawing has been executed in a fluid, elegant style, the deftness and vivid chiaroscuro of which are reminiscent of some of the great Veronese predecessors of the Cinquecento like Paolo Farinati. These grisaille-like works are among the best Marcola ever did, as can be seen by comparing this drawing with the designs for a fresco decoration in the Palazzo di San Nazaro in Verona (see Sergio Marinelli/Giorgio Marini (eds.), Museo di Castelvecchio Disegni, Milan 1999, pp. 124–125, no. 95).

From the collection H. W. Campe (Lugt 1391).