PIO JORIS Rome, 1843 - 1921 The Feast of St. John Signed P Joris Roma bottom right, San Giovanni, Roma June 94 left Oil on canvas, 92X190 cm Provenance: Rome, Giosi Collection At the height of his artistic maturity, between the 1880s and the first decade of the 20th century, Pio Joris developed a painting style of great technical refinement and narrative depth. In this period, the Roman artist abandoned his youthful experimentation to arrive at a fully personal language, recognisable for its balance between descriptive realism and luministic suggestion. His mature production is dominated by religious scenes, popular processions and sacred interiors, often set in Roman churches or urban views with a strong symbolic value. Works such as Holy Thursday, The Procession of the Cloaked and The Procession to the Aracoeli testify to a profound interest in collective rituals and popular spirituality, approached with poetic sensitivity and anthropological attention. Joris was also known for his serial production: he produced several versions of the same subject, destined for different collectors. Our work, dated 1894, represents a variant of the painting The Feast of St. John (exhibited at the LXVI Exhibition of the Society of the Amateurs and Connoisseurs of Fine Arts in Rome in 1895-96, n. 482), now kept at the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca. Although maintaining the same scenographic layout, this canvas is distinguished by the presence of different characters, which make the composition original and autonomous compared to the painting exhibited in Rome in 1895. Joris' scenes appear as real 'staged' photographs, animated by numerous figures, architecture and a strong symbolic and narrative component. His painting, as well exemplified in this work, stands out for its compositional rigour, chromatic vitality and capacity for visual narration, consolidating the artist's position within the great season of European verism and Italian painting at the end of the 19th century. In these years, the use of light becomes a fundamental expressive element: candle flames, golden reflections and atmospheric shadows define crowded spaces and complex scenographies, animated by cloaked female figures, prelates, devotees and vendors. During this period, Joris established himself as one of the most popular Italian painters also abroad: he exhibited successfully in Paris, where he was awarded a gold medal in 1900, and participated in important exhibitions in Munich, Vienna and London, gaining great enthusiasm among critics and collectors. His scenographic compositions were particularly popular with the international public, attracted both by their pictorial quality and their picturesque and documentary character.