ATTRIBUTED TO JAN FRANS VAN BLOEMEN (1672-1749)
A VIEW FROM THE BANKS OF THE TIBER TOWARDS
THE PORTO DELLA LEGNA AND CASTEL SANT'ANGELO
Indistinctly inscribed & dated to prow of boat l.l. 1712
Pen & ink with brush & wash
24 x 36 cm
PROVENANCE:
Private collection, France
This large topographical drawing is in many ways absolutely typical of Jan van Bloemen's Roman-period drawings, with the broad brushstrokes of varying shades of grey wash, strong contrast between light and shade throughout, and the manner in which the foliage and brush is delineated with the tip of the brush in elegant lines all exemplary of his style. In his biography of van Bloemen, Lione Pascoli made several references to the artist having produced numerous drawings of Rome and its environs; however, few securely attributed drawings are known today, in contrast to a plethora of paintings.
Jan Frans van Bloemen studied first under his older brother, Pieter, who was a gifted painter of both landscapes and animals and whose drawing style is often almost indistinguishable from that of his younger sibling’s. Jan completed his apprenticeship in the studio of Anton Goubau in Antwerp, after which he embarked on the arduous journey to Rome, accompanied by his brother. Arriving in 1686, both artists soon became members of the Schildersbent, the Netherlandish artists’ association in Rome.
Like many of the Bentveughels (members of ‘Bent’), he swiftly earned himself a nickname, in his case ‘Orrizonte’ (the Italian for ‘Horizon’), in honour of the deep receding backgrounds of his landscape paintings. Such works, on occasion produced in collaboration with Pompeo Batoni, Carlo Maratta and one or two other contemporaries (who provided staffage), were extremely popular with both Roman and foreign collectors. Prince Camillo Pamphili commissioned a series of paintings from him in 1711, while the noble Colonna family apparently owned more than eighty pictures by the artist. Van Bloemen’s works were also sought-after by the numerous English noblemen visiting Rome on the Grand Tour, which was becoming de rigeur at exactly the time Van Bloemen was at the height of his powers