In the garden of Villa Saluzzo called the Paradise, a well-known suburban residence of Genoa on the slopes of the hill of Albaro, a group of nobles and some clergymen lovingly spend the hours: A scalcinato wall separates them from the vast landscape that you can enjoy from that terrace of the park.
Ladies, knights, cicisbei and prelates whose light and dark hues constitute pauses of light, marking the sequence of vanity of the whole, are observed by the painter who, apart, at the service of the lords, but not participating in their world, is intent on portraying the scene, pinning down every detail.Magnasco’s agile, darting and at the same time precise touch, with irony and critical spirit, shows the now inexorable disintegration of the society of ancien régime, which appears unaware of how much its "golden paradise" is undermined from the outside, If a boy with crumpled clothes manages, undisturbed, to climb over the ruined wall.
Three quarters of the composition are occupied by the panorama overlooking the villa, the true protagonist, at least quantitatively, of the painting; Magnasco gives a meticulous recording, revealing an adherence to the truth very close to the spirit of the Enlightenment, So the view, which the unusual format of the painting recalls, is a tool of investigation and rationalization of space, not at all in contrast with the conscious dissent of the author towards the decorative and celebratory purposes in vogue at the time.
The critics, now in agreement, place this canvas around 1740, when, back in Genoa, his native city, Magnasco proposed themes and ways that had made him famous in Florence and Milan for the more conformist and less updated Genoese commission.

The figure so sumptuously portrayed in this painting is that of the noble Francesco Maria Imperiale, elected doge of the Republic of Genoa in September 1711 and here portrayed in 1713, in the last phase of his biennial office.
The painter Gio. Maria Delle Piane known as Mulinaretto was inspired, for the occasion, by the portrait of Louis XIV of France painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud in 1701, tracing the model in the details of the setting, in the aulic atmosphere, in the richness of the dress and in the kingship of the mantle: The Imperial dress is dominated by the crimson red of the marsina, the stockings and the shoes, which contrasts with the white ermine mozzetta and with the cloak draped in gold and silver damask. Compared to the authoritative model, whose knowledge had spread through engravings, more affable and colloquial appears the attitude of the Genoese, who with a gesture indicates the signs of his power, throne and crown, while an eagle - which clearly refers to the coat of arms of the family - carries in flight the sceptre; on the left, the base of the column bears the date and signature of the painter and identifies the effigy in the "Genue dux ac Corsice rex", emphasizing the formality of the portrait.
Certainly Mulinaretto looks to Rigaud for the intense psychological characterization of the character represented and for the technical virtuosity in the realistic translation of the fabrics and furnishings: note the tactile preciousness of the draped golden curtain over the canopy, dark velvet cloth, almost iridescent due to the passing light, which covers the table on the right, and finally the trimming with golden tassels that adorns the throne. A combination of symbolic elements that express, as proven metaphors of power, the intent of personal and dynastic celebration of the Imperial, at the time when he had reached the highest office of the Republic and the highest prestige for himself and for his family.

Prospectus from the south

National Galleries of Palazzo Spinola, Genoa, the historic house, kitchen

National Galleries of Palazzo Spinola, Genoa, the historic house, mirror gallery

National Galleries of Liguria - Genoa

Ascension

Ludovico Brea (documented in Nice and Liguria from 1475 - 1523)