Landscape with Waterfall
1650 - 1660.Not on display
A landscape with waterfalls appears at one side of the composition. At the other, various buildings oppose their rational and geometrical mass to Nature’s freer expression. The canvas’s human presence consists of various tiny figures in different parts of the composition. The suggestion of the Tivoli cascades and their wild surroundings are the main argument of this painting, which is characteristic of both this painter and his time. Indeed, places on the outskirts of Rome, like the one appearing here, attracted artists commissioned by clients wanting images of nature in its most varied and picturesque forms. This painting appears to seek a classicist conception of landscape, although it does not go as far as Poussin in its expression. It also recalls landscapes by Busiri and other contemporaneous painters specialized in this type of works. The fascinating quality of this work and its careful crafting reveal its author’s exquisite, almost miniaturist virtuosity (Text drawn from Luna, J. J.: Claudio de Lorena y el ideal clásico de paisaje en el siglo XVII, Museo del Prado, 1984, p. 114).
