Landscape with bridge and tower
Oil Painting
early 18th century (painted)
early 18th century (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A bridge crossing a verdant valley with a river flowing beneath and ruined fortification at right. A peasant on a horse or donkey traversing the bridge is silhouetted in the low light of the sun, while the open gate of a rustic shelter, seemingly carved out of the rock at bottom right, has attracted the attention of a curious dog. A bridge crosses a verdant valley with a river flowing beneath and ruined fortification at right. A peasant on a horse or donkey traversing the bridge is silhouetted in the low light of the sun, while the open gate of a rustic shelter, seemingly carved out of the rock at bottom right, has attracted the attention of a curious dog. An attribution to Willem van Bemmel (1630-1708) has been suggested by Marijke de Kinkelder (verbal communication) in February 2010. van Bemmel was active primarily in Utrecht where he trained with Herman Saftleven and was greatly inspired by Jan Both, one of the foremost painters among the second generation of Dutch Italianates. The motif of the man on a horse seen from behind (visible on the bridge in this work) reappears throughout van Bemmel's work as does the
tall thin wispy tree silhouetted against sky. The bridge with its fortified tower recalls that of the ancient Roman ponte molle or Milvian Bridge which captured the imaginations of many Dutch Italianate artists visiting Rome, visible for example in Jan Both's engraving of ca. 1640-50.
tall thin wispy tree silhouetted against sky. The bridge with its fortified tower recalls that of the ancient Roman ponte molle or Milvian Bridge which captured the imaginations of many Dutch Italianate artists visiting Rome, visible for example in Jan Both's engraving of ca. 1640-50.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Landscape with bridge and tower (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Oil on canvas |
| Brief description | Oil Painting, 'Landscape with Bridge and Tower', attributed to Willem van Bemmel, Early 18th century |
| Physical description | A bridge crossing a verdant valley with a river flowing beneath and ruined fortification at right. A peasant on a horse or donkey traversing the bridge is silhouetted in the low light of the sun, while the open gate of a rustic shelter, seemingly carved out of the rock at bottom right, has attracted the attention of a curious dog. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by John M. Parsons |
| Object history | Bequeathed by John M. Parsons, 1870 Historical significance: An attribution to Willem van Bemmel (1630-1708) has recently been suggested by Marijke de Kinkelder (verbal communication, February 2010). An attribution to Wilhelm von Bemmel has recently been suggested by Marijke de Kinkelder (verbal communication, February 2010). Active in Utrecht where he trained with Herman Saftleven, van Bemmel was also greatly inspired by Jan Both, one of the foremost painters among the second generation of Dutch Italianates. The motif of the man on a horse seen from behind (visible on the bridge in this work) reappears throughout van Bemmel's work as does the tall thin wispy tree silhouetted against sky. The bridge with its fortified tower recalls that of the ancient Roman ponte molle or Milvian Bridge which captured the imaginations of many Dutch Italianate artists visiting Rome, visible for example in Jan Both's engraving of ca. 1640-50. |
| Historical context | Dutch Italianate landscapes such as this were particularly popular in the 17th through to the early 19th centuries. The term conventionally refers to the school of Dutch painters and draughtsmen who were active in Rome for more than a hundred years. These artists produced mainly pastoral subjects bathed in warm southern light, set in an Italian, or specifically Roman, landscape. The term is also often applied, to artists who never left the northern Netherlands but who worked primarily in an Italianate style. Eighteenth-century collectors, especially French ones, preferred a view by Nicolaes Berchem or Jan Both to a scene of the Dutch country side by Jacob van Ruisdael for instance. The taste for the Italianates continued undiminished into the 19th century. An early voice denouncing these artists was that of John Constable in 1836 and at the end of the century Italianates had lost favour partly because of the rise of Impressionism and the appreciation of the Dutch national school of landscape expounded by such eminent critics as Wilhem von Bode, E.W. Moes and Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. |
| Production | Originally ascribed to Jan Both (1893), it was subsequently described as 'School of Berchem'. C. M. Kauffmann believes it is not close enough to Berchem's style to warrant this description, but it appears in any case to be the work of a minor Dutch artist of the 18th century. An attribution to van Bemmel has been suggested by Marijke de Kinkelder (verbal communication) in February 2010 This painting has been attributed, based on photographs only. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | A bridge crossing a verdant valley with a river flowing beneath and ruined fortification at right. A peasant on a horse or donkey traversing the bridge is silhouetted in the low light of the sun, while the open gate of a rustic shelter, seemingly carved out of the rock at bottom right, has attracted the attention of a curious dog. A bridge crosses a verdant valley with a river flowing beneath and ruined fortification at right. A peasant on a horse or donkey traversing the bridge is silhouetted in the low light of the sun, while the open gate of a rustic shelter, seemingly carved out of the rock at bottom right, has attracted the attention of a curious dog. An attribution to Willem van Bemmel (1630-1708) has been suggested by Marijke de Kinkelder (verbal communication) in February 2010. van Bemmel was active primarily in Utrecht where he trained with Herman Saftleven and was greatly inspired by Jan Both, one of the foremost painters among the second generation of Dutch Italianates. The motif of the man on a horse seen from behind (visible on the bridge in this work) reappears throughout van Bemmel's work as does the tall thin wispy tree silhouetted against sky. The bridge with its fortified tower recalls that of the ancient Roman ponte molle or Milvian Bridge which captured the imaginations of many Dutch Italianate artists visiting Rome, visible for example in Jan Both's engraving of ca. 1640-50. |
| Bibliographic reference | Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 97, cat. no. 108 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 510-1870 |
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| Record created | September 14, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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