Dorp op een heuvel 1730

Marco Ricci made this print of a village on a hill using etching sometime around the late 17th or early 18th century. It is important to remember that this image was not made in a vacuum, the print was dedicated to a Venetian senator, suggesting Ricci’s awareness of patronage networks. Notice the social dynamics at play. Oxen pull a cart uphill, driven by laborers, towards a fortified town, a seemingly self-sufficient microcosm. How does Ricci present the relationship between the land, labor, and local power? The location could be anywhere in mainland Venice; these landscapes became popular among the British Grand Tourists, who sought picturesque views that evoked a pre-industrial golden age. To understand this work better, one might explore Venetian political history and the art market. Art history teaches us to consider not just what is depicted, but for whom, and under what conditions. This helps us to understand the ways in which art and institutions shape the world.