Jan Baptist Weenix Amsterdam 1621 - 1660/1 (?) Huis ter Mey near Utrecht

Sir Bruce Ingram (L.1405a), from whom acquired in 1956

The biographer Arnold Houbraken got his information about Jan Baptist Weenix directly from the artist's son, and can therefore be regarded as a reliable source.  Houbraken wrote that while studying with Abraham Bloemaert in Utrecht, Weenix made a great many drawings from nature of "old dilapidated Barns, Houses, and other things that seemed to him picturesque," of which this is probably one.

In 1642, Weenix's quest for the picturesque led him to leave his wife and 14-month old son and set off for Italy.  Houbraken's account describes how at first the artist left in secret, but was tracked down and fetched back from Rotterdam by his wife.  He then left again, this time with her agreement, but on condition that he stayed away no longer than four months.  In fact, he was gone for four years, living and working, with great success, in Rome.  Signed drawings by the artist are rare, but this example, with its old incription on the reverse, fits well with what is known of his early style (for further information, see P. Schatborn, Drawn to Warmth, 17th-century Dutch Artists in Italy, Amsterdam 2001, pp. 100-116).