Lot 2520 Dα

Andrea Locatelli, considered one of the most important Roman landscape painters of the first half of the 18th century, explored the landscape genre in all its declinations: at first, mainly influenced by Salvator Rosa´s examples, Locatelli preferred river and coastal landscapes, experimenting with the insertion of genre scenes, ruins and topographical details. He later oriented himself towards the works of Gaspar Dughet and Jan Frans van Bloemen, drawing inspiration from the elegiac and optimistic attitudes of the classicists Dughet and Lorrain.
The present composition already testifies to his dialogue with the works of van Bloemen in its subtle chiaroscuro, whereas the figures still recall Rosa´s types and could be therefore ascribed to the artist's early mature period.
Another version of the same subject, similar in composition and size, has been described by Andrea Busiri Vici as “a gem of Locatelli´s production” ( Andrea Busiri Vici: Andrea Locatelli e il paesaggio romano del '700, Rome 1976, cat. 70, whereabouts unknown, formerly with Colnaghi).