Francesco Londonio (Milan, 1723 -1783)
Landscapes with shepherds and herds
oil on canvas, 47 x 39 cm
Londonio began his artistic career as a student of Ferdinando Porta in Milan, initially training in the tradition of history painting. A youthful trip to Parma, likely undertaken to study the work of Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio, testifies to his early interest in the great Emilian tradition. However, his artistic path underwent a crucial and innovative turning point, abandoning historical painting to dedicate himself to the animal and pastoral genre. This conversion, presumably occurring in the fifth decade of the eighteenth century in Lombardy (between Milan and Cremona), was not merely a change of subject, but a genuine reformulation of the genre, capable of intercepting the most advanced cultural currents of Milan in the late eighteenth century. The sources of this new vision were manifold and predominantly Nordic: figures like Berchem, Adiaen van de Velde, or Peter van Laer, known as Bamboccio, and Willem Romeyn, whose "bambocciate" rich in horses and herds were well represented in Milanese collections such as the gallery of Porta (formerly Parravicini), providing direct inspiration. Alongside these, Londonio integrated Italian influences: the rendering of animals was indebted to Giovanni Battista Castiglione (il Grechetto), while the figures, while retaining the agile, barocchetto grace learned from Porta, show the strong influence of Giacomo Ceruti, particularly evident in the pathetic tone and close-up perspective of the isolated figures present in his early etchings from 1758-59. His documented debut in the new genre occurred in the mid-century, with the 1753 drawing, "A Bull and a Cow Resting," and the first signed painting in 1756, a "Cattle Market," which openly confirmed his Dutch sources. Londonio thus succeeded in mediating Nordic influences with Lombard sensibility, creating a pastoral art that defined his identity in the eighteenth-century art scene. Londonio's early work is documented by his etchings (1758-59), a technique he learned in Milan from Benigno Bossi. The 103 total engravings, divided into 10 series, reveal a strong stylistic influence from Giacomo Ceruti, evident in the close-up perspective and the pathetic tone of the pastoral subjects. The seventh decade of the eighteenth century was the most prolific and well-documented period of Londonio's career. It was marked by a series of study trips that were fundamental for the refinement and enrichment of his pictorial language; he traveled to Rome (1763) and Naples (1763-64), with a probable stop in Genoa. These travels alternated with the creation of important painted cycles on canvas for the noble Milanese families Grianta and Alari. The first half of the 1760s was also a period of great productivity for preparatory studies, which form the backbone of his execution practice; these are numerous oil studies on paper, often signed, intended to be reused in larger compositions. They are characterized by a soft, vibrant brushstroke and lively chiaroscuro that models the figures and motifs. Londonio's remarkable mastery in the pastoral genre found formal recognition in the 1770s. His fame is attested by the praise bestowed upon him in 1772 by the dialect poet and academician Trasformato Domenico Balestrieri, who, like his colleague Carlo Antonio Tanzi, owned "some paintings" by the artist. During the 1770s, his painting technique evolved, with the brushstroke becoming more cursive and nervous. An example of this approach can be found in "Old Peasant Woman Spinning with Livestock" at the Sforza Castle, dated 1775. To this chronological phase belong, at least in part, other important complexes of works commissioned by influential Lombard families, including the Borromeos, the Greppis, and the Mellerios. An activity of great interest, which transcends the canvas, is linked to the painted and cut-out paper nativity scenes, a genre popular in late eighteenth-century Lombardy. Londonio played a primary role in the renewal of this technique. The key example of this production is the imposing nativity scene in the church of S. Marco in Milan. Although marginally to his preferred pastoral theme, Londonio also cultivated other genres. His incursions extended to still life and portraiture, as demonstrated by the well-known Self-Portrait preserved at the Sforza Castle in Milan.
These two pastoral scenes, focusing on shepherds and herds in a shaded landscape, fit perfectly into Francesco Londonio's pictorial corpus. The style is characterized by a cursive and vibrant brushstroke and lively chiaroscuro that models the subjects. The animal figures, particularly the cows, reflect the meticulous observation from life that Londonio developed in his preparatory oil studies on paper, the most substantial collection of which, containing numerous sketches of cattle, is housed at the Pinacoteca di Brera. These works highlight the master's synthesis between the influence of Nordic genre painting and the eighteenth-century Lombard sensibility.
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