James Francis Cipper at Buonconsiglio Castle: the theater of the everyday

From April 12 to September 14, 2025, the Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento will host Il teatro del quotidiano, the first retrospective dedicated to Giacomo Francesco Cipper (Feldkirch, 1664 - Milan, 1736), known as “il Tedesco.” The exhibition, curated by Maria Silvia Proni and Denis Ton, brings together works from major Italian and foreign museums, as well as private collections, to offer a comprehensive portrait of an artist who is still enigmatic today.

Born in 1664 in Feldkirch, Austria, and active mainly in Milan until his death in 1736, Cipper stood out for his ability to transform the everyday into spectacle. Commoners at the market, beggars, peddlers, street musicians, and morra players animate his canvases with surprising energy. Unlike other “Pitocchi” painters, such as Giacomo Ceruti, his gaze does not rest on desolation, but on the vitality and irony of popular life.

An exhibition that goes beyond the monographic

The exhibition places Cipper’s works in dialogue with the works of artists who influenced him or were influenced by him, including Antonio Cifrondi, Felice Boselli, Monsù Bernardo, the Master of the Jeans Canvas, and Giacomo Ceruti. Among the rarities on display are an unpublished Portrait of a Pilgrim by Ceruti and a little-known version of the Spinner by Pietro Bellotti, a painter to whom, moreover, an exhibition, the first monographic one, is dedicated this year at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice.

Cipper’s scenes are striking for their realism and ability to capture the movement and expression of the characters, at a time when genre painting was intertwined with social chronicle. The Austrian painter enhances reality with a vivid palette and dynamic composition that heralds modern photojournalism.

From the Milanese market to European collections

Although his subjects belonged to the most humble strata of society, Cipper’s works were highly prized by the high aristocracy. Recent studies reveal that his paintings figured in the collections of the Colloredo family, governors of Milan, and the Clerici family, as well as Richard Temple’s English residence in Stowe. His art was also successful in Austria, Germany, Poland, and Russia.

Success led Cipper to replicate his compositions several times, while other, less gifted artists copied his inventions. Even today, the market is flooded with dubious attributions, which threaten to tarnish the figure of this extraordinary interpreter of popular life.

“This is not a pure monograph,” the curators emphasize, "but proposes, alongside a vast body of works by the master, who was mostly active in Milan in the first decades of the 18th century, several canvases by artists from the context, especially Lombardy, who influenced Cipper or were inspired by him: Antonio Cifrondi, Felice Boselli, Monsù Bernardo, the Master of the Jeans Canvas, Giacomo Ceruti. With absolute firsts, such as an unpublished Portrait of a Pilgrim by Ceruti and a little-known version of Pietro Bellotti’s Spinner. Alongside the paintings are sometimes exhibited objects that help us understand the painter’s concreteness and connection to the chronicle and the subject matter: musical instruments, begging compasses...."

James Francis Cipper at Buonconsiglio Castle: the theater of the everyday

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.