Description:
Landscape with bridge; men with boat in foreground
Label Text:
Jan Both arrived in Rome sometime around 1637, a few years after his brother, Andries Both, also an artist. The two are members of what is now known as the Second Generation of Italianates, a group of northern artists who lived and studied in southern Italy in the late 1630s through the 1650s. More specifically, Jan Both was loosely associated with the Bamboccianti, a group of artists who specialized in so-called “low-life” scenes, or scenes that depicted the everyday life of poor and working class Italians. Together the Both brothers shared a house on the Via Vittoria and sometimes worked together as well. In contrast with Andries who depicted lively peasant scenes, Jan’s treatment is more idyllic. The scene depicted here is typical of Both’s tranquil landscapes bathed in warm Mediterranean light.
The brothers stayed in Rome until 1642 when they left for Venice. After Andries accidentally drowned in a canal, Jan returned to his home town of Utrecht and joined the Guild of Saint Luke, where he continued to create Italianate scenes. Like most of his work it is difficult to date this etching to the time he spent in Italy. It is one of only fifteen known prints by Both.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1959.64 |
