Jacob de Heusch Utrecht 1656 - 1701 Amsterdam

Jacob de Heusch was one of the leading Dutch artists in Rome in the last quarter of the seventeenth Century. According to Arnold Houbraken he received his training in Utrecht, from his uncle Willem de Heusch (1638-1692). At the age of nineteen Jacob de Heusch is documented at a meeting of the Bentveughels in Rome, where he remained until in the 1690s to leave for Venice. In Rome he assimilated his style and subject matters to well-known artists such as Gaspar Dughet, but he is best known for his landscapes in the style of Salvator Rosa.

The present painting is one of a series of idealized vedute of Rome, which Jacob de Heusch depicted in the 1690s, interpreting the successful city views of his fellow countryman and painter Caspar van Wittel (1653-1736). Whereas other vedute by De Heusch are for a great part imaginary, this picture seems to be one of his most accurate topographical representations. Whether the artist was still living in 1694 in Rome is not known. It is characteristic of De Heusch that he used several motifs in this view of the Forum Romanum, as he did in other paintings. The architecture with the Temple of Venus and Roma and the Arch of Titus for example, can also be found in a picture in a private Roman collection and the capriccio of the remains of the Colosseum is identical to that in a signed painting showing A river landscape with travellers on a path and peasants conversing by moored ships, a town beyond sold New York, Christie's, 4 June 2003, lot 191.

With its vivid staffage, this is a typical piece made for the art market that was eagerly sought after by contemporary Italians and visiting Grand Tourists.

We are grateful to Drs Manja Rottink for her help in cataloguing this lot. The painting will be included in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Jacob de Heusch, currently in preparation.