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Frederick de Moucheron, 'A Landscape with Classical Ruins', about 1660

About the work

Overview

Frederick de Moucheron was one of a number of seventeenth-century Dutch artists who specialised in painting idyllic scenes of people with their animals among the antique ruins of the Campagna (the countryside around Rome).

Here, a woman sits upright, holding a baby, while a man with his back to us points towards a sunlit tower overlooking the distant valley. Neither of them seems to notice the rather adventurous dog exploring the fallen masonry under the columns.

The ruins tower over the people beneath them. The columns are painted very slightly off centre, leaning almost imperceptibly to one side – it’s enough to be unsettling, especially with the tomb-like blocks overhead that look in danger of falling. The ruins appear to suggest the grandeur of an almost-vanished civilisation; life in their shadow continues calm and serene, untouched by the glories of the past.

Key facts

Details

Full title
A Landscape with Classical Ruins
Artist dates
1633 - 1686
Date made
about 1660
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
71 × 65.2 cm
Inscription summary
Signed
Acquisition credit
Bequeathed by Richard W. Cooper, 1892
Inventory number
NG1352
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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