Landscape with ruins 

Paul Bril made this pen and brown ink drawing, titled "Landscape with Ruins," likely in Italy sometime around the turn of the 17th century. This work, now held at the Städel Museum, reflects a broader European fascination with the imagery of Italy, particularly the ruins of ancient Rome. Bril, a Flemish artist who spent much of his career in Rome, tapped into the market for idealized landscapes. The crumbling structures evoke a sense of the passage of time and the transience of human achievement, a theme popular among European intellectuals. It is worth noting how the remnants of the Roman Empire—bridges, arches, and walls—are carefully rendered, suggesting a nostalgic yearning for a lost golden age. To understand this drawing more fully, we can consult period guidebooks to Rome, as well as the records of artists’ networks and the art market of the time. This helps us to see how Bril’s image fits into a larger context of cultural exchange and historical consciousness.