The Journey to Italy
The whole of Europe succumbed to the charm of Italy, and the Flemish and Dutch painters were no exception, although it may be noted that the greatest Dutch painters (Rembrandt, Hals, Vermeer) did not undertake the journey. Certain painters, whether they settled permanently in this country or not, built up an exclusively transalpine repertoire of genre scenes and urban or country landscapes. At the beginning of the 17th Century, the bamboccianti (from the nickname of Pieter van Laer, known as il Bamboccio), Northern painters living in Rome, specialised in scenes of working-class life accompanied by views of ruins.
Breenbergh exploits this repertoire of figures in a cave, but in a nobler style, whilst landscape painters like Tilens were inspired by Paul Bril, one of the great Flemish painters present in Italy at the turn of the 17th Century. The museum is rich in 18th Century works that draw masterfully on Italian inspiration, such as those of Jan Frans and Pieter Van Bloemen. Gaspar van Wittel, also known under the italianized name of Vanvitelli, was one of the precursors of the painters of Venetian views, Canaletto and Guardi.
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