Prospekt af et torv i en italiensk stad 1740s

Jens Knudsen created this print, “Prospekt af et torv i en italiensk stad,” sometime between 1650 and 1750. During this period, European artists commonly depicted Italian cityscapes, catering to a Northern European audience’s fascination with Italy. The image presents an idealized view of an Italian square, bustling with people from various social classes. The architecture is rendered with meticulous detail, reflecting the period’s interest in perspective and realism. However, it is equally important to recognize that Knudsen, a Danish artist, may have never visited Italy. Instead, his depiction could be based on other artists' works, perpetuating a romanticized, and possibly inaccurate, vision of Italian life. What stories were missed or misrepresented in this projection of Italian culture? How might this image reflect as much about the desires of its Northern European audience as the realities of Italian life?