Italiaans landschap 1706 - 1759

Jacob van Liender made this Italian Landscape with pen and watercolor. Dutch artists like Van Liender popularized Italianate landscapes like this in the 17th and 18th centuries, despite often never visiting Italy. Looking at the image, we see ruins and bridges placed within the landscape, evoking an idealized past. The two figures in the foreground may be a reference to classical mythology, connecting to the Grand Tour, in which upper-class Europeans, particularly the British, would travel to Italy in search of art and culture. In fact, many artists in the Netherlands were producing landscapes for British aristocrats. The composition emphasizes the picturesque qualities of the Italian countryside, reflecting a desire for an escape to an imagined world. To understand this artwork better, historians might investigate travel accounts, social histories of the Grand Tour, and the economic relationships between Dutch artists and their patrons. The meaning of art is, after all, contingent on social and institutional context.