Mountain Landscape with a Distant Vista

Guercino made landscape drawings purely for his own pleasure. They bear no relation to his altarpieces and numerous other paintings. While the compositions likely sprang from his imagination, some are reminiscent of the landscape around Cento, the artist’s birthplace. Executed in pen and ink only, they follow in the tradition of Italian landscape drawings, such as those by Titian and Domenico Campagnola.