Artwork
Italian Landscape
Italian Landscape is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Created around 1650, this oil painting presents an idealised Italian countryside.
About this work
History & Provenance
It entered the Dutch public collection via the 1877 bequest of Lucretia Johanna van Winter, whose collection was divided between her heirs and the Rijksmuseum.
The work now in the Rijksmuseum was painted circa 1650 by Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem. It entered the Dutch public collection via the 1877 bequest of Lucretia Johanna van Winter, whose collection was divided between her heirs and the Rijksmuseum. By 1877 it had passed to her son Hendrik Six van Hillegom, then to Jan Pieter Six VI, and subsequently to Pieter Hendrik Six van Vromade and Jan Six van Vromade, from whom the museum acquired it.
The painting’s creation history is therefore tied to Berchem’s mid-seventeenth-century activity in the Dutch Italianate landscape tradition, with no record of a specific commission surviving.
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem's painting Italian Landscape is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The work is executed in oil on canvas and dates to 1650. Prior to its current location, the painting passed through the hands of several private owners, including Lucretia Johanna van Winter, Hendrik Six van Hillegom, Jan Pieter Six VI, Pieter Hendrik Six van Vromade, and Jan Six van Vromade.
The provided sources do not contain specific information regarding an accession number or a documented history of public exhibitions for this work.
Overview
Created around 1650, this oil painting presents an idealised Italian countryside. A gentle road winds through a verdant valley toward distant mountains, under a clear blue sky streaked with soft clouds. Small figures, a rider on horseback and a strolling woman, appear along the path, lending a narrative touch to the tranquil scenery.
Subject & Meaning
The composition blends landscape with genre, suggesting a leisurely journey through an imagined Italy. The inclusion of travelers hints at themes of movement and contemplation, while the harmonious balance of nature and human presence reflects the period’s fascination with pastoral idylls and the romantic allure of classical lands.
Technique & Style
The artist employs chiaroscuro to model light and shadow, giving the terrain a three‑dimensional quality. Warm sunlight bathes the foreground, contrasting with cooler tones in the distance, while delicate brushwork renders foliage and distant peaks. The overall style aligns with the Dutch Italianate tradition, merging Northern realism with Southern atmospheric effects.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 – 18 February 1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and…
