Oil painting on canvas depicting the Girandola (fireworks) on top of Castel Sant'Angelo seen from the Tiber with a boat full of spectators in the left foreground.. Probably rich bourgeois and foreign travellers visiting Rome, intent on admiring the show in progress, during the solemn celebration of the feast of the patron saints of the city Peter and Paul, on June 29. Immediately behind on the quay of the river other people crowded to make space to get the front row. In the background, among the fumes of the fireworks, the outline of the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican can be seen.

Roman school of the second decade of the 19th century, around 1820.

Canvas size 25.5 x 33 cm - with 36x43 cm frame.

On the back there is the inscription "Souvenir de Madame Mastre? 1820"

Excellent conditions, commensurate with age, original canvas, small ancient restorations. Contemporary gilt wood frame with stucco

The girandola of Castel Sant'Angelo is a fireworks display that takes place in Rome on June 29th, the feast of local patrons. According to tradition, the show was conceived by Michelangelo Buonarroti for the celebrations of Saints Peter and Paul, founders of the Church and patrons of the city of Rome. The show originated around the fifteenth century, when the Papal State celebrated the main recurrences with fires set up above the entrance of Castel Sant'Angelo to form a pinwheel, with a famous final fountain spouting out over the whole monument. In 1886 the show, considered too dangerous by the Italian authorities, was interrupted. After several centuries of inactivity, in 2006 the show was recalled on the Vatican Hill to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the Swiss Guard. In 2008 the event was replicated in its original Castel Sant'Angelo site, until 2016 when it was moved to the Pincio terrace, in front of Piazza del Popolo.