Jan Frans van Bloemen, called Orizzonte | Placido Costanzi

Private collection, Belgium, by 1974;

Anonymous sale ('The Property of a Gentleman'), London, Christie’s, 16 April 1999, lot 118, for £76,300;

With Richard Green, London;

From whom acquired in June 2001.

A. Busiri Vici, Jan Frans Van Bloemen. Orizzonte e l'origine del paesaggio romano settecentesco, Rome 1974, no. 312, reproduced;

F. Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, U.E. McCracken (ed.), vol. II, Baltimore 1976, p. 510, under no. 397.

This magnificent scene of the Roman campagna, signed with the artist’s sobriquet and dated 1735, is a characteristic example of Van Bloemen’s mature style, distinguished by its expansive composition, luminous atmosphere, and harmonious balance of nature and architecture. In his catalogue raisonné on the artist, Andrea Busiri Vici describes this work as ‘certamente il più bello e quello di migliore qualità’ (‘without a doubt the most beautiful and accomplished’)¹ of the artist’s compositions of this type.

The inclusion of the Vatican Belvedere situates the view within the recognizable environs of Rome, yet it is filtered through Van Bloemen’s poetic interpretation, exemplifying the blend of topographical detail and poetic invention that secured his reputation among collectors in Rome and across Europe. The composition is animated by classical figures executed by the Roman painter Placido Costanzi, with whom Van Bloemen frequently collaborated. Trained in the workshops of Francesco Trevisani (1656–1746) and Benedetto Luti (1666–1724), Costanzi was greatly admired during his lifetime for the clarity and elegance of his style, evidenced by the gracefully posed figures in the foreground. The collaboration between Van Bloemen and Costanzi reflects a well-established Roman practice in the early 18^th century, whereby leading landscapists often partnered with specialist figure painters to produce works tailored to the tastes of an ever-growing international clientele.

As observed by Federico Zeri,² the source of inspiration for this composition is surely Nicolas Poussin’s (1594–1665) Landscape with Diogenes, in the Musée du Louvre, Paris,³ in which the composition follows the same general lines (fig. 1). In both works, the Vatican Belvedere appears on the left, in each case rendered from a slightly different viewpoint. The domed building placed towards the centre of both canvases and close to the riverbank, recalls the church of Sant'Andrea in via Flaminia, Rome, built in 1553 by the architect Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola (1507–1573).

A workshop replica of this work of near identical dimensions is in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.⁴

¹ Busiri Vici 1974, no. 312.

² Zeri 1976, pp. 509–10, no. 397.

³ P. Rosenberg, in Nicolas Poussin, 1594–1665, P. Rosenberg and L.-A. Prat (eds), exh. cat., Paris 1994, pp. 392–94, no. 171, reproduced in colour.

⁴ Inv. no. 37.897; oil on canvas, 99.2 x 136.8 cm; Zeri 1976, pp. 509–10, no. 397, pl. 260, reproduced.