Italian school; 17th century.

Italian school; XVII century.
"Landscape with ruins".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 84 x 134 cm.
In this canvas we see a wide costumbrista scene, where the numerous animals are the absolute protagonists. Cows, goats, sheep and dogs are distributed in groups, dispersed in a naturalistic way although following an order thought to reinforce the three-dimensional construction of the space. Among the animals move various popular characters, including three prominent in the foreground: a child playing the flute, a woman riding a donkey and a farmer who guides several animals helped by a long stick. Further on we see other figures guiding the different animals. This is a representation of a city square on the day of the cattle fair, when peasants from the surrounding area gathered to sell both animals and various products. The scene is worked with the narrative accent typical of the Flemish costumbrista school, and we can recreate ourselves in numerous anecdotal details, such as the goat and the dog that challenge each other on the right side, next to the fountain, or the little dog that rises on its hind legs to reach the piece of meat offered by the woman mounted on the donkey.
The author has conceived this work is following the costumbrista models, although he introduces a new and discordant element such as the appearance of the ruin, which becomes the protagonist of the image, although its presence may go unnoticed. However, it is the primary characteristic that indicates that the work is related to Romantic painting, which attempted to replace the large canvases of historical or religious themes, giving greater prominence to the landscape. They wanted the pure landscape, almost without figures or totally devoid of them, to reach the heroic significance of history painting. They were based on the idea that human feeling and nature should be complementary, one reflected in the other. That is, the landscape should arouse emotion and transmit ideas. Thus, landscape painters like the author of this painting tried to express their feelings through the landscape, instead of imitating it. The romantic landscape had two main aspects: the dramatic, with turbulent and fantastic views, and the naturalistic, which emphasized images of a peaceful and serene nature.
The Bamboccianti were genre painters, active in Rome from c. 1625 to the end of the 17th century. Most were Dutch and Flemish artists who brought to Italy the tradition of depicting costumbrist subjects typical of 16th-century Dutch art. They generally created small cabinet works, or engravings of the daily life of the lower classes in Rome and its countryside. Despite their humble subject matter, the works found appreciation among elite collectors.