An Italian Landscape with Figures and Cattle
Lapp, Jan17th century
Dulwich Picture Gallery
London, United Kingdom
"Not much is known about Jan Lapp, apart from the fact that he was documented as a member of the painters' guild in The Hague in 1625. His works (as in this case) often lurked beneath an attribution to Karel Du Jardin, with whose style - and Paulus Potter's - he has something in common. His work is undeniably Italianate, though whether as a result of a personal trip to Italy is unknown.
The argument in favour of Lapp's having visited Italy is strongly supported by this image, with its strangely exotic mix of emerald poplars and imposing classical statuary. His figures are distinctive, also - like a more romantic Pieter van Laer. The whole has a peculiarly dream-like quality, albeit unnaturally enhanced by chemical changes in the pigment over time. The signature (on one of the antique plinths) is damaged, but the style of this landscape is consistent with Lapp's work."
- Title: An Italian Landscape with Figures and Cattle
- Creator Lifespan: c.1600? - After 1662
- Date: 17th century
- Physical Dimensions: w643 x h568 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil
- Work Notes: Richter says the picture had previously been attributed to Jacob van der Does and to Dujardin.
- Work Nationality: Dutch
- Support: Canvas
- Provenance: London, Noel Desenfans, ?1785-1807: ?London, Christie's, Desenfans sale, 11ff May 1785, lot 28 (as A. van de Velde); ?London, Christie's, Desenfans sale, 8ff Apr. 1786, lot 267 (as A. van de Velde); London, Skinner and Dyke, Desenfans sale, 18 Mar. 1802, lot 107 (Descriptive Catalogue no. 130, as by Dujardin: 'A Landscape with Cattle and Figures [The centre of this picture, presents an Italian country house, partly concealed by a range of poplars in full verdure. On this side of it, are scattered statues and beautiful fragments of columns, and near them is a cottager with her five children. The eldest boy has climbed to the top of a marble pedestal, on which he has taken his seat, and the girl who appears to be about twelve years old, and dressed in a red corset, with a sleeping infant in her arms, has likewise seated herself on the ground. The mother dressed in blue, is standing between her two little boys, her hand on the head of one whom she seems to be reproving. At a distance from her, but also in the front, are cows, an ass and sheep, of which some are grazing and others lying on the ground.'] £18.18. Bt in; London, Sir Francis Bourgeois, 1807-1811; Bourgeois Bequest, 1811.
- Artist: Lapp, Jan
- Acquisition Method: Bourgeois, Sir Peter Francis (Bequest, 1811)
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