An extensive river landscape with travellers, mountains in the distance

Gaspar van Wittel, better known by his Italianized name Vanvitelli, left his native Amersfoort in 1674 to settle in Rome where he specialized in Italian landscapes. From 1674 to 1676 Vanvitelli travelled between Rome and Perugia as a water engineer on a project initiated under Pope Clement X. During this period he produced his first detailed drawings of Roman vedute in a loose brush and wash technique inspired by the pastoral landscapes of Claude. Vanvitelli understood Claude's technique so well that the drawings of the two artists have often been confused, G. Briganti,Gaspar van Wittel, nos. D2-3.
The present sheet is datable to Vanvitelli's early travels around Rome, before he left the area in 1694 to travel in Northern Italy. In its broad application of washes it is comparable to a preparatory drawing for a view of Tivoli dated 1690, G. Briganti, op. cit., no. D1.
A comparable sheet dating from the same period from the collection of the Duke Roberto Ferretti was sold in these Rooms, 2 July 1996, lot 83.