Italian Landscape with Ruins n.d.

Jonas Umbach created this etching of an Italian Landscape with Ruins in the 17th century. It evokes the picturesque movement, which found beauty in idealized nature and classical ruins. During this time, Italy held a prominent place in the European imagination as the home of classical civilization, and ruins symbolized the transience of human achievement. Prints like this circulated widely and were collected by those who may never have been able to travel to Italy themselves, thereby fueling the Grand Tour. Umbach's print flattens the landscape and exaggerates its features. The landscape is not just observed, but composed, and that idealization speaks to the aesthetic preferences of its time. To understand this work, art historians study the artistic conventions of landscape prints, travel literature, and the history of collecting to better understand the cultural meanings that viewers would have found within this image.