Artwork
Landscape with Ruins and a Woman with a Parasol
Landscape with Ruins and a Woman with a Parasol is an ink print by the Baroque artist Herman van Swanevelt. It dates from 1628 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Herman van Swanevelt’s 1628 etching titled Landscape with Ruins and a Woman with a Parasol presents a tranquil countryside scene rendered in monochrome. A meandering track leads the eye past weathered stone structures toward a distant horizon, while a small group of figures, including a woman shaded by a parasol, traverses the path.
Subject & Meaning
The composition juxtaposes human activity with the remnants of antiquity, suggesting a contemplation of time’s passage. The solitary woman under a parasol may symbolize leisure or protection, while the crumbling ruins evoke a sense of historical decay amid an otherwise serene natural setting.
Technique & Style
Executed through etching, the work relies on incised lines on a metal plate to achieve delicate gradations of tone. Van Swanevelt’s fine, tapered strokes create atmospheric perspective, rendering the distant ruins as faint silhouettes and giving depth to the foreground foliage and figures.
History & Provenance
Created in 1628, the print reflects the Dutch Golden Age’s interest in landscape and antiquarian subjects. While specific ownership records are scarce, the work has been catalogued among van Swanevelt’s prints and appears in several 17th‑century collections of etchings that documented the period’s printmaking practice.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Landscape with an Artist Sketching
Antique Ruins of an Amphitheatre
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Veuë de temple de Soleil à Rome (View of the Sun Temple in Rome)
Second View of the Forum of Nerva
The Baptism of Christ, Set in a Mountainous Landscape
Square in Front of an Inn
The Baths of Diocletian