Artwork Page for Landscape with a Man Leaning on a Bale

Details / Information for Landscape with a Man Leaning on a Bale

Landscape with a Man Leaning on a Bale

c. 1640

Guercino

(Italian, 1591–1666)
Culture
Italy, 17th century
Medium
pen and brown ink
Support
Cream(3) laid paper
Measurements
Sheet: 18.5 x 26.3 cm (7 5/16 x 10 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 2000.23
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The tradition of landscape as an independent subject in Italian art stretches back to the 1500s and was flourishing in the 1600s, when Guercino made this drawing. Guercino, however, rarely painted pure landscape, preferring to explore this genre in the more intimate medium of drawing. This sheet, with its fluid pen lines and unified composition enlivened by small figures, is a typical example of his ability to integrate picturesque motifs into an asymmetrical, balanced whole.
A horizontally oriented ink drawing on cream paper depicts a landscape with a central sloping hill topped by wind-blown trees. In the foreground, a man leans against a large bale near two wooden barrels and a slender tree. A rectangular tower stands on the far left, and two tiny figures appear on a distant ridge. Fine hatched lines create shadows across the undulating terrain and central hill.

Landscape with a Man Leaning on a Bale

c. 1640

Guercino

(Italian, 1591–1666)
Italy, 17th century

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