Italian school; 17th century.

Italian school; XVII century.
"Landscape."
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 33.5 x 42 cm; 57 x 67.5 cm (frame).
During the Italian Settecento the genre of the landscape took force, that developed from the peak that during the preceding century had the school of the bamboccianti. Just as in the 17th century, the followers of Il Bamboccio (Pieter van Laer) specialized in the representation of popular scenes, focusing on picaresque themes that developed on the margins of society and in the Roman countryside, in the 18th century the human element was relegated to second place in favor of the landscape element, which took full prominence. In fact, the scuola di bambocciari became known in the eighteenth century as "pittori della realtà", focusing on natural rather than social reality. In the landscape at hand, however, it is clear that their idea of reality was still far from the naturalism of later times. Here, monumental trees with rough trunks and cottony canopies shelter scattered country scenes under their umbrellas. The atmosphere is extremely bucolic, immersing us in a dreamlike nature, thanks to the masterful use of velvety shades and the spatial sense, without undermining the precision of the drawing, attentive to the organic growth of the vegetation.