Rural Landascape (II)

The subject

The Roman countryside depicted from the simplest yet highly striking perspectives and the great monuments of ancient Urbe were the fulcrum of Andrea Locatelli’s work, a great interpreter of Roman Vedutism during the first half of the 18th century.

Green landscapes interspersed with rural buildings became the silent backdrop for scenes from daily life such as fishing, working in the fields or simple moments of idleness, which the painter places in the foreground and mostly hidden from view, so as not to distract the viewer’s attention from the great sight of the landscape.

The painting

Andrea Locatelli kept the Roman Vedutism tradition alive during the early 18th century, since it had reached the height of its success in the previous century with the birth of genre painting, developed by the ‘Bamboccianti’ and subsequently perfected by purer Vedutists like Paolo Anesi.

This genre continued to achieve great success among the collectors in the papal city, with the sole purpose of delighting viewers by primarily depicting peaceful natural scenes that recalled the ambience of the ancient land of Arcadia.