Jan Frans van Bloemen detto l’Orizzonte (Anversa, 1662 – Roma, 1749) Paesaggio con veduta romana

The gaze is on the outskirts of the city, and the road leading to Rome is dotted with ancient ruins and commoners resting from the toils of the journey. The van Bloemen can be recognized in this painting by the point where the landscape fades into the atmosphere, in the center of the canvas, a habit that earned him the appellation "Horizon"; we detect his predisposition to make landscapes clearer and brighter, influenced by Claude Lorrain. But his manner is completely imbued with the naturalism of Gaspard Dughet, as indicated by the sources.The artist trained in Antwerp but, following the success of his brother Pieter, soon began his sojourns abroad, first in Paris and then in Italy. In Turin he obtained commissions that earned him the praise of Victor Amadeus II, and by 1688 his presence is attested in Rome.Here he was fascinated by the city's monuments, but particularly by the countryside of the Roman castles, to which he would devote much of his production. He probably settled in Zagarolo after living in Via Margutta together with other Flemish painters.His success as a painter of "pastoral Rome" attracted both the admiration but also the envy of many:Carlo Maratta tried -unsuccessfully- to introduce him to the Accademia di San Luca between 1699 and 1713. But the landscape genre was at that time still much opposed in its official recognition, as it was still considered a "minor" genre. van Bloemen would see his great talent recognized by the Academy, by unanimous vote only in 1742, at the age of eighty. Bibl.: Pascoli in 1732 and from the Roman archives consulted by Hoogewerff. the painting is published in the volume devoted to the Horizon by Andrea Busiri VIci in 1973, fig. 356. Oil on canvas, 135x97 cm.