by Herman van Swanevelt (Dutch, 1603-1655)
Etching on laid paper, 14 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (mat)
10 1/8 x 13 in. (sheet size)
Published in Rome by Nicolas Jean Baptiste Poilly (1712–1780)
Condition: Light foxing at right in sky and minor creasing. Mat has lighting staining.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Painter, draughtsman and etcher, Herman van Swanevelt was born in 1603 in Denmark and spent most of his life in France and Italy.
He was a member of the Schildersbent, an association of Netherlandish artists in Rome and later was admitted to the Académie Royale in Paris in 1653. By colleagues, he was given the nickname ‘Heremyt’ or hermit, because his preference for depictions of Italian ruins which often led him deep into the remote countryside around Rome.
Swanevelt’s paintings of landscapes with biblical or mythological subjects were in great demand, and among his most significant patrons in Rome were the Barberini family, for whom he painted frescoes in their palazzo in the Piazza Navona, and Philip IV of Spain, who commissioned a number of large paintings for the Buen Retiro.
Some two hundred landscape drawings by Swanevelt survive today, with the largest group in the Uffizi in Florence, numbering fifty-eight sheets mostly consisting of preparatory studies for etchings. A gifted and prolific printmaker, Swanevelt also produced around 118 prints in his lifetime, and provided drawings for other artists to engrave. A significant number of preparatory drawings by Swanevelt for his prints are known, and the etchings tend to follow the designs fairly precisely.
His paintings, drawings and prints can be found in significant museum collections throughout the world.
by Herman van Swanevelt (Dutch, 1603-1655)
Etching on laid paper, 14 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (mat)
10 1/8 x 13 in. (sheet size)
Published in Rome by Nicolas Jean Baptiste Poilly (1712–1780)
Condition: Light foxing at right in sky and minor creasing. Mat has lighting staining.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Painter, draughtsman and etcher, Herman van Swanevelt was born in 1603 in Denmark and spent most of his life in France and Italy.
He was a member of the Schildersbent, an association of Netherlandish artists in Rome and later was admitted to the Académie Royale in Paris in 1653. By colleagues, he was given the nickname ‘Heremyt’ or hermit, because his preference for depictions of Italian ruins which often led him deep into the remote countryside around Rome.
Swanevelt’s paintings of landscapes with biblical or mythological subjects were in great demand, and among his most significant patrons in Rome were the Barberini family, for whom he painted frescoes in their palazzo in the Piazza Navona, and Philip IV of Spain, who commissioned a number of large paintings for the Buen Retiro.
Some two hundred landscape drawings by Swanevelt survive today, with the largest group in the Uffizi in Florence, numbering fifty-eight sheets mostly consisting of preparatory studies for etchings. A gifted and prolific printmaker, Swanevelt also produced around 118 prints in his lifetime, and provided drawings for other artists to engrave. A significant number of preparatory drawings by Swanevelt for his prints are known, and the etchings tend to follow the designs fairly precisely.
His paintings, drawings and prints can be found in significant museum collections throughout the world.
