A View of Bracciano with the Church of S. Maria Assunta
Bartholomeus Breenbergh traveled to Italy around 1620 where he sketched ancient ruins and the countryside to use in the paintings he would make back in the Netherlands. The area around the Lago di Bracciano northwest of Rome was home to several medieval villages that provided charming vistas for artists. Here, Breenbergh emphasized the crumbling turret of a medieval castle in Bracciano in front of the ordered, linear outline of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Combining gray and brown ink washes to plot gradations in tone, he created vivid contrasts of light and shade, capturing the effects of the bright Italian sunshine.
Credit: Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift
c. 1619-33
Brown and gray inks and washes applied with point of brush and brush, with traces of graphite underdrawing on cream antique laid paper
8.7 x 15.0cm
2020.127
Image and text: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023
Where you'll find this
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Permanent collection