Square with Roman buildings

Jacob van der Ulft was a dilettante draftsman. He was the burgomaster of Gorkum, in the Netherlands, from 1660 to 1679. Although he never went to Rome he depicted numerous Roman and Italian views. His sources of inspiration were the prints and drawings of a fellow dilettante draftsman: Jan de Bisschop. The two men may have worked together, but it is also possible that van der Ulft acquired many of de Bisschop’s drawings at auction in 1677 (see P. Schatborn, Drawn to Warmth. 17th Century Dutch Artists in Italy, exhib. cat., Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 2001, pp. 196-199). Most of der Ulft drawings, like the present sheet, are in pen and ink, brush and wash. The view depicted here appears to be an imaginary assemblage of Roman buildings rather than a real site.