This early 18th-century oil painting attributed to Austrian artist, Franz de Paula Ferg (1689-1740), depicts the Commedia dell’Arte performing in a busy Italian village square. Ferg was a distinguished painter, draughtsman and printmaker of multi-figure genre scenes and landscapes.
Amid the hurly-burly of a crowded market, citizens mingle to discuss various wares. In the foreground, a woman appears to plead with another during a goat-based debate. A behatted chap in a green coat gesticulates, perhaps bartering or explaining “we might be back later”.
By the stage, a rider atop a white horse is delayed by the crowds, as two sprightly ne'er-do-wells extract fresh eggs from his cart. Their mother stands ahead of them, awaiting the spoils. In every direction, there’s a tale unfolding. Who are these characters? What are their respective roles? Who can be trusted? From our elevated position, they appear akin to curious ‘Lilliputians’ obliviously conducting their everyday activities within a quaint miniature environment.
We’re reminded, while pondering on these intriguing questions, of the travelling actors conspicuously treading the boards on the right. The ‘Commedia dell'Arte’ was a partially improvised show based around several standard character types. Popular between the 16th and 18th centuries, actors would assume a role, such as a mischievous masked harlequin, or a self-assured ‘Il Capitano’, then proceed to amuse the audience with a string of witty shenanigans.
By including a theatre, Ferg is narrating a rather ironic story of his own, whereby the audience is providing the ‘real’ entertainment. Why do we need to concoct an imaginary story when the villagers have such stimulating tales?
“Jesters do oft prove prophets”. King Lear. William Shakespeare.
Produced during the early part of his career, the figures, colouring and overall composition are comparable with two of his signed works at the National Gallery in Prague - ‘Small Town with a Church’ and ‘Landscape with Dancing Peasants’. Also with his ‘Village on a Canal’, which is in the Lichtenstein Princely Collections. All of these stem primarily from Ferg’s tuition with Johann (Hans) Graf (1653-1710) and were probably undertaken prior to 1720.
Born in Vienna, at a time of significant change, Franz de Paula Ferg, also known by his anglicised name of Francis Paul Ferg, was a master of genre painting. He was trained initially by his father, the history painter, Adam Pankraz Ferg (1651-1729), before working first under ‘Baschueber’ and then Graf. During the early part of his career, he was particularly inspired by the latter, and developed a similar style, both in terms of brushwork and colouring. Often we see a blueish-green landscape with figures rendered consistently in ochre, tinted vermillion, and light blue. Most of his works were on small sheets of copper.
Next, Ferg lived with the landscape painter, Josef Orient (1677-1747), presumably working in his studio. Apprentices, in general, were known to assist the master with specific elements, such as adding figures (also known as ‘staffage’) into a view. Indeed, when looking across Orient’s oeuvre, it would appear that Ferg was more accomplished at rendering believable forms. There was probably a similar arrangement in place when he travelled to Dresden and worked alongside Johann Alexander Thiele (1685-1752).
It was in Dresden that Ferg established himself as an artist of considerable merit, producing numerous works for patrons. His attention to minutiae, coupled with his advanced skill as a colourist, formed the basis of a growing reputation. He soon taught himself to etch, thus enabling him to offer prints alongside his works in oil.
In his ‘Figures of the Commedia dell'Arte Performing a Quack Doctor Scene in a Village Square’, which sold at Christie’s in 2013, there’s a sense of realism, which is comparable with some of the early Dutch masters. While his ‘A Village Dance’ demonstrates his proficiency of rendering complex figure arrangements, reminiscent of the great Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/1530-1569).
In 1724, Ferg settled in London, where he again established a profitable relationship with local patrons. In addition to his village scenes, he also produced idealised Italianate landscapes - popular among young aristocratic males, having completed their Grand Tour.
However, despite his evident success, he fell into exceedingly dire financial and personal circumstances, which, according to the writer George Virtue, were the result of a dreadful marriage. Virtue described him as “so unhappily married to a boisterous extravagant hussy, (being a long time prisoner for debt) that she kept the man always poor and indigent”. Which “brought him so low, that being quite exhausted, he went out to some company the last evening of his life, and dropt down dead before he got home in the street”.
This version of events, however, was disputed by the art dealer Noël Desenfans (1741-1807), who attributed Ferg’s pecuniary woe to a head injury caused by a falling roof tile. We may never know the truth, but either way, it led to a pauper’s burial at the infamous Saint Giles in the Fields, Camden.
He’s represented in numerous public collections, including at The British Museum, V&A Museum, and The Met Museum in New York. Virtue described him as “a painter of an uncommon genius”.
Possibly signed in the lower right. Held in a later frame.
Learn more about Franz de Paula Ferg in our directory.
Medium: Oil on copper
Overall size: 17½” x 14½” / 44cm x 37cm
Year of creation: c. 1720
Provenance: Private collection, Germany.
Condition: Cleaned. Fine craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. Frame with various marks and showing its age. Slight undulation to the copper.
Artist’s auction maximum: £160,000 for ‘River Landscape with Figures on a Boat, Banks and in a Ferry’, Oil on copper, Sotheby’s, Old Master Paintings - Part I, London, 12 July (lot 57).
Our reference: BRV2114
