Italian Landscape with an Ox-cart

As the day draws to a close, the expansive sky in this painting is tinged with the soft evening glow of sunset. Warm golden light is cast onto the trees growing from the rocky banks to the left, which frame the scene. With evening setting in, the figure and animals are perhaps readying themselves to make their way home. An ox pulls a cart away into the landscape beyond, while the horse, donkey and dog stand by with their master.

This painting reflects the Dutch artist Jan Both’s (c. 1615-52) fascination with the picturesque landscapes of Italy. Many northern European artists during the seventeenth century were drawn to the beauty of Italian scenery, and they often travelled south to study and paint its landscapes. Jan Both spent a significant amount of time in Italy, and this experience influenced his artistic output. While this is a copy of Both's original painting in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica at Palazzo Corsini, Rome, it may possibly have been painted by Both himself.