Italiaans landschap met man op een muilezel 1666 - 1703

Jan van Call created this Italian Landscape with Man on a Mule in pen, ink, and watercolor around the turn of the 18th century. The image speaks to a burgeoning cultural interest in Italy, particularly among artists from Northern Europe. Van Call, who was from The Hague, never actually traveled to Italy himself. Nonetheless, he capitalized on the demand for Italianate scenes, which were popular amongst wealthy Dutch patrons who sought to signal their cosmopolitanism. This print, like many others of its kind, would have likely been based on existing engravings, sketches, and descriptions circulating at the time. These scenes, while seemingly benign, reveal the increasing importance of artistic academies and international travel in shaping artistic careers. We can consult travel guides, letters, and artists' biographies from the period to better understand the cultural institutions and artistic networks that made such images possible. Through this kind of research, we start to see how the apparently simple appreciation of landscape is deeply embedded in the social structures of its time.