- 200
Jan Asselijn
Description
- Jan Asselyn
- Landscape with shepherds and their flock crossing the Ponte Acquoria near Tivoli
- oil on canvas
- 52 by 67 cm
Provenance
Acquired from the above by Prince Johann I. of Liechtenstein (1760-1836) in 1808 for 400 florins.
Literature
G.F. Waagen, Die vornehmsten Kunstdenkmäler in Wien, Vienna 1866, no. 288;
J. Falke, Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bilder-Galerie im Gartenpalais der Rossau zu Wien, Vienna 1873, p. 77, no. 664;
A. Kronfeld, Führer durch die Fürstlich Liechtensteinsche Gemäldegalerie in Wien, Vienna 1931, p. 127, reproduced fig. 664;
A.C. Steland-Stief, Jan Asselijn, Amsterdam 1971, p. 157, cat. no. 203, reproduced plate XIII;
A.C. Steland, Die Zeichnungen des Jan Asselijn, Fridingen 1989, p. 237, under no. 118;
P. Huys Janssen in The Hoogsteder Exhibition of Dutch Landscapes, The Hague 1991, p. 48, under cat. no. 1;
H. Buijs, in A Choice Collection. Seventeenth-Century Dutch Paintings from the Frits Lugt Collection, Mauritshuis, The Hague 2002, pp. 64-65, reproduced fig. 6c.
Condition
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Asselijn painted another larger and signed view of the same bridge, a popular subject with Dutch artists in Rome during the seventeenth century, which is listed by Paul Huys Janssen as in a Private Collection, and by Anne Charlotte Steland in a North German private collection.1 Though the composition is from the opposite bank, the same tree trunk is seen resting against one of the bridge's Roman stone pillars. This same motif also features in a large drawing of the Ponte Acquoria in the British Museum, although this is no longer believed to be an autograph work by Asselijn.2
The highly animated figures in the current work seem to draw from prototypes in his earlier cavalry battle scenes. The figure with his back to us centre right, for example, shadows a foot soldier entering battle to the left of Asselijn's painting of King Gustav II in Battle in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin.3
1. See Huys Janssen, op. cit., p. 48, cat. no. 1, Steland, 1989, op. cit., p. 237, under no. 118.
2. See Buijs, op. cit., p. 64, fig. 6c., and Steland, 1989, op. cit., p. 237, no. 118, reproduced fig. 187.
3. For which see Steland-Stief , op. cit., pp. 123-124, cat. no. 8, reproduced plate IX.