Saint John's Day Dance, Giuseppe Chiessa

Giuseppe Chiesa (1720 – 20 November 1789) was an Italian painter based in Menorca, a key figure in the Menorcan cultural scene of the 18th century. He founded a school, from which later illustrious painters such as Josep and Joan Chiesa, two of his sons, and his pupil Pasqual Calbó and Caldés, among others, would emerge. Therefore, its influence is widely felt in the artistic world of the island. The Menorcan political landscape of the 18th century is marked by the British domination of the island, which modified the artistic panorama. It is a period of considerable constructive activity and reform of residential housing, decorations and acquisitions of works to dress these residences. Giuseppe Chiesa was one of the professional artists who came to Menorca to meet the growing new demand for art by a bourgeois clientele formed just in the eighteenth century. His realistic paintings, close to verism, make Giuseppe Chiesa the official chronicler of Menorca of the time, since they reflect in great detail the passages, the historical events and the variety of characters that make up the cosmopolitan Menorcan society of that time. This painting depicts the celebration of the night of Sant Joan in the plain of the parish of Sant Francesc (Maó) with a bonfire as the central motif. The village is represented around, in a very detailed way, gathered on the occasion of the celebration.