A Street Scene with a Capriccio of Roman Buildings

Artist Johannes Lingelbach (German, active in the Netherlands, 1622–1674)

Dateabout 1651

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 81.9 × 72.5 cm (32 1/4 × 28 9/16 in.)
framed: 101.6 × 92.1 cm (40 × 36 1/4 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineSarah C. Garver Fund

Terms

Object number1976.155

Label TextThis painting, which seems to date from around 1651, was completed either toward the end of the artist's stay in Rome or shortly after his return to the Netherlands. The setting is a northwest view of the via del Babuino, an area quite familiar to Lingelbach who is recorded to have lived on this street between 1647 and 1648. Almost all of the monuments in this painting can be identified including the large sculpture in the foreground which was taken from the Piazza del Campidoglio, located about 1200 meters from the present scene. The figures in this painting illustrate one of the Seven Acts of Mercy (Matthew 25:35-40): Feed the Hungry. In the middle distance, a Franciscan monk is shown distributing soup from a large kettle to a group of peasants gathered around him. Various other figures traditionally associated with this theme--pilgrims, an amputee, a woman breast-feeding a child, and several upper-class figures being approached for alms--all serve to enact the gospel message. Born at Frankfurt, Germany, in 1622, Lingelbach came to the Netherlands with his parents. After a sojourn in Paris from around 1642 to 1644, he traveled to Italy where he stayed until at least 1650. Returning to the Netherlands by way of Germany, he settled in Amsterdam. There he continued to paint genre scenes, using as his favorite background some of the well-known views of Rome.ProvenanceLeger Galleries, London

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