(Città di Castello 1749–1819 Milan)
A winter landscape with travellers by a stream and a waterfall, signed lower centre: Franc.co Fidanza Romano,
oil on canvas, 89 x 124 cm, framed

We are very grateful to Marietta Vinci Corsini for confirming this as a rare example of a winter landscape by Francesco Fidanza on the basis of photographs. Vinci Corsini intends to publish the painting in a forthcoming article, discussing the unique relationship of Francesco Foschis and Fidanza´s Winter landscapes.

This signed work is a rare winter landscape by Fidanza. It appears to be the only signed inverno by the artist to have appeared on the market recently. The fact that Fidanza painted winter scenes has sometimes been doubted by art historians and Luigi Salerno, in 1991, re-attributed a winter landscape in Budapest to his contemporary fellow Francesco Foschi (see L. Salemo, I pittori di vedute in Italia, Roma 1991, p. 297). Salerno considered all winter landscapes given to Fidanza to be works by Francesco Foschi, limiting the artists oeuvre exclusively to his better known seascapes in the style of Vernet. Even though the misty seascapes undoubtedly constitute the major part of Fidanza´s artistic output, Salerno in this assessment ignored the contemporary sources that often mentioned winter landscapes by Fidanza: Un Temps de neige was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1801
(see Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins. Sculpture, architecture et gravure des artistes vivants, Paris 1801, p. 2, no. 129) and another at the Salon of 1804, Une neige (see Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins. Sculpture, architecture et gravure des artistes vivants, Paris 1804, p. 30, no. 175). It was bought by Fidanza´s patron Count Sommariva for his Villa on Lake Como (see S. Ticozzi: Dizionario degli architetti, scultori, pittori, Milan 1831, vol. II, p. 72; F. De Boni: Biografia degli artisti, Venedig 1840, p. 358), and is believed to be identical with a painting now in Milan which Salerno also attributed to Foschi.. (see Salerno ibid., 1991, p. 298).

The present, signed work and an only recently identified signed winter landscape in the Musei Civici di Pavia (Inv. Nr. P531, oil on canvas 63 x 92, see fig.) prove how adept Fidanza was at working in the genre of winter landscapes, developing a style very simliar to that of Foschi. The signature of the Pavia painting, which is both in design and scale similar to the present work, was only recently rediscovered during restoration. The dreamy, evocative atmosphere is enhanced by a relatively monochrome palette.

Fidanza´s mastery in painting calm water surfaces, dramatic rock formations and misty foam, used also in his seascapes, is evident in the cool, almost unmoved surface of the stream, reflecting the rustic farmhouse in the centre, and the dramatic waterfall in the left background, a compositional feature also used in the Pavia painting.

Additional picture:
Francesco Fidanza, Pavia, Musei Civici, Inv. P531