Landschap met twee ruiters die een fort binnengaan 1616 - 1680

Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi created this print of a landscape with two riders entering a fort, a scene evoking the Roman Campagna, in the 17th century. Grimaldi spent much of his career in Rome, where a classical style of landscape painting was very much in vogue. However, it is clear that this image makes use of both classical and romantic visual codes. The riders and architecture point to a classical interest in history. Yet the naturalistic rendering of the landscape, with its rugged trees and winding river, brings a romantic sensibility to the work. How are we to understand this combination of styles? By looking at the social function of the artwork. Grimaldi was not only a painter but also an architect and, as such, was employed by powerful families such as the Pamphili and Borghese. The painting would have served to ennoble their status. The classical elements allude to the deep history of Italy. The romantic elements display ownership over the landscape itself. Further research into the patronage of the artist would undoubtedly reveal more about the painting’s social and institutional context.