Italian Landscape with the Ponte Lucano over the Aniene River

Unknown artist

c. 1650 - 1652

oil on copper

Rijksmuseum

A pastoral landscape depicts a river with a bridge and ancient ruins on the left, and a dirt path with travelers and pack animals on the right. Lush trees and rolling hills fill the background under a soft, cloudy sky. Jan Both (c. 1615 - 1652). Italian landscape with the Ponte Molle, c. 1650. The atmosphere of this idyllic landscape is typically Italian. The lush green of the trees and plants creates a lively impression, as does the small group of travellers by the river, bathed in warm sunlight. On the left we see the Ponte Molle, a well-known bridge in the Roman campagna. Both painted many of such scenes, in which a zigzag motion of river and roads leads the viewer's eye into the depths. On copper. Purchased in 1809, as part of the Van Heteren Gevers collection (The Hague)