A coastal river landscape with shepherds and their cattle

This large sheet exemplifies Tavella’s wide-ranging cultural references, where the classicizing rendering of the Roman campagna, much indebted to Dughet and Claude, is energized by an exuberant draughtsmanship learnt from his master, the Dutchman Pieter Mulier, il Tempesta. The artist’s style as a draughtsman altered little throughout his career, making his drawings difficult to date, but the extensive and painterly use of red wash in the present work points to a Roman rather than Genoese date of execution. While this composition cannot be linked to any of the artist’s paintings, the setting, with a tower and mountain to the right, is similar to a Landscape with shepherds and a tower recently on the art market (Il Ponte, Milan, 13 April 2017, lot 1420).