Fire in the Borgo (recto); Slight Sketch of the Fire in the Borgo (verso)

Art Historical Context

Ottaviano Dandini’s “Fire in the Borgo” is a striking double-sided red-chalk drawing created between 1726 and 1750. Working on ivory laid paper, the Florentine artist used the warm, velvety tones of red chalk to capture dramatic movement and flickering light. The recto presents a fully developed scene of chaos and rescue, while the verso offers a lighter, more tentative sketch of the same subject, revealing the artist’s working process as he explored composition and gesture. Red-chalk drawings like this one were prized in the eighteenth century for their ability to convey both sculptural form and atmospheric effect. Measuring roughly 37 by 50 centimeters, the sheet is large enough to suggest it may have served as a preparatory study or an independent work meant for collectors who appreciated the immediacy of chalk. Its presence in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings collection highlights the enduring value of such works as intimate records of artistic thought. The repeated title points to a long-standing fascination with the legendary fire that ravaged Rome’s Borgo district in the ninth century. Dandini’s version invites viewers to consider how artists across centuries revisited dramatic historical narratives, using technique and paper surface to bring urgency and humanity to the story.