Begrafenis in de Campagna 1841 - 1857

Johan Daniël Koelman made this sepia drawing, Burial in the Campagna, at an unknown date. The scene depicts a funeral procession in the Roman Campagna, a rural area outside of Rome. This landscape represents a visual code that carries a lot of historical weight. In the 19th century, the Campagna was a popular destination for Northern European artists, but while it was celebrated as a picturesque landscape, it was also known as a place of poverty, disease, and death. Koelman’s drawing reflects these realities by depicting the hard life of the peasants. The drawing could serve as a commentary on the social structures of the time. The solemn procession and the bleak landscape highlight the economic and social disparities between the wealthy tourists who visited the Campagna and the poor peasants who lived there. To understand the drawing better, we can research the history of the Campagna in the 19th century. The artwork’s meaning is contingent on its social and institutional context.