Hochzeitszug

This 1735 wedding procession at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin represents one of Magnasco's rare festive subjects — a departure from the asceticism and hardship that dominated his most characteristic work. Even in this celebratory context, his expressive brushwork and dramatic compositional approach prevent the scene from becoming conventionally picturesque, giving the wedding procession a nervous energy that distinguishes it from the decorative Rococo festivity of his contemporaries. The Gemäldegalerie's comprehensive Italian painting collection places this among a broader survey of Baroque and Rococo Italian art that allows Magnasco's idiosyncratic style to be assessed against the norms from which it departs.

The processional figures are rendered with Magnasco's elongated proportions and rapid brushwork, the festive scene animated by the nervous energy that characterizes even his most joyful subjects.