View of Rome with country scene at Campovaccino, Pieter van Bloemen (Antwerp 1674-1720)

Painting depicting "View of Rome with country scene at the Campovaccino of the ancient Roman Forum", a work of high quality executed by PIETER VAN BLOEMEN KNOWN «THE STANDARD» (Antwerp, 1657-1720)

1690 about
oil on canvas, 76 x 104 cm.
Private Collection, Rome

Complete details on: www.antichitacastelbarco.it

Representative and typical testimony of Pieter van Bloemen (Antwerp 1657 - 1720), in particular of his stay in Rome, this evocative "Country scene with views of Rome" exposes us to a subject congenial to him, which we find in fact other times in his catalog , with inventiveness similar but varied from the present ones. It was precisely during his long stay in Rome, from 1687 to 1692, that he reached the peak of his career, obtaining flattering successes, thanks also to the settings with Roman ruins in the background, as confirmed by the presence of various of his works in the main collections of the Roman aristocracy.
To act as a companion piece to this work, another painting by Van Bloemen is available, of the same size with a similar subject, as well as the same stylistic and compositional characteristics.
This splendid canvas, which constitutes an interesting addition to the catalog of the Flemish master's works, depicts an everyday scene among ancient buildings in Campovaccino in which the remains of the basilica of Constantine and Santa Francesca Romana can be recognised, the left corner of which is visible.
The Roman setting is typical of Pieter van Bloemen's works, in which it is not so much the archaeological spirit that is the inspiration but the desire to recreate an atmosphere, majestic and humble at the same time, in what Busiri Vici calls the "most happy union of a solemn Roman feel with that almost village sense”.
The great success and diffusion that Van Bloemen's subjects had in Italy is attested by the corpus of his paintings preserved in museums and private collections. An autograph replica of our painting is preserved at the Musèe d'Art et d'Histoire in Lille, together with the companion piece depicting the Tempietto di Vesta (see Busiri Vici 1981, pp. 111-114, ill. 9-10). Another drafting of the same subject recently appeared on the market in Amsterdam (canvas, 85,3 x 120,4 cm; Christie's, 16 November 2005, lot 93); it presents variations in the architecture of the background, as well as in the figures and animals.
Pieter is clearly linked to the Flemish language, although he reveals himself to be Italian in his type of landscape and stylistic conduct. While his brother Jan Frans specialized in pure, classically inspired landscapes, Pieter combined it in a childlike way, preferring countryside settings with ancient ruins as the backdrop to simple daily activities: horses drinking, blacksmiths at work, wayfarers resting at inns, markets.
The interest in animals emerges from the constant presence, as well as horses, of goats, oxen and crouching dogs, which in fact here too become protagonists occupying the foreground strip, according to a rather usual compositional scheme in Van Bloemen.

[GIANCARLO SESTIERI]

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