(Antwerp 1684–1763 Rome)
An ideal river landscape, with a bridge and a classical monument,
oil on canvas, 48 x 72 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Galleria Antiquaria Guglielmo Canessa, Milan;

Private collection, Bavaria

Literature:
A. Busiri Vici, Pieter, Hendrik e Giacomo Van Lint, Rome 1987, p. 167, no. 195

The present painting can be compared to a number of works by van Lint made under the influence of the ideal landscapes of Claude Lorrain. Van Lint was one of the most versed landscape painters active in Rome during the first half of the 18th century. The Antwerp-born artist travelled to Rome in 1700, where he joined the large community of artists from Northern Europe. He became a member of the Bentvueghels, a society of mostly Dutch and Flemish artists in Rome that was notorious for its bacchantic initiation rituals. Its members also received a nickname - Van Lint, for example, was known as ‘Monsu Studio’ because of the meticulous preparation of his compositions. The young van Lint seems to have been a collaborator, and possible in the workshop of Vanvitelli.

Like Lorrain, van Lint made detailed sketches out of doors during his excursions into the countryside surrounding Rome and later used them for his compositions on canvas, frequently adding classical ruins and antique monuments. In this way, he created ideal landscapes suffused with a soft light and a harmony between man, nature, and history. The temple-like building in the centre of the present composition is inspired by the church of Sant’Andrea in via Flaminia.