Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"Jan Both
The Hinny-Drover. Via Appia
Drypoint etching on paper
10 3/4 x 7 3/4 in.
1637-1643
Acc. No. 1981.06.09
Jan Both was born in Utrecht around 1618, and his father and brother also were artists. Jan and his brother
Andries both studied under Abraham Bloemaert, and they continued to work together and traveled to Italy
in 1637. Jan was one of many northern artists who made this trip, and they are collectively referred to as the
“Italianate” artists, because they used the special Mediterranean light and Italian landscape to make beautiful
images, often incorporating some type of ruin. Jan Both returned to Holland in 1641, the same year his
brother died. Jan Both is known for his paintings, but like many other Dutch Baroque artists, he was also an
accomplished printmaker.
Of the three hundred works of his that remain, only eight are dated. This print is not dated, but its chronology,based on Jan Both’s travel to Italy and the fact that it belongs to a series entitled “Landscapes of the Environs of Rome,” probably dates it sometime during his voyage to Italy or shortly after his return to Holland.The print is signed “Both fe” in the bottom left. It belongs to the fourth stage of the plate, for according to James Burke, Both signed but did not date the plate during the fourth stage.
This print depicts a rural genre scene with peasants. It has a large variety of tonal effects, and it is easy to see
how Both uses the direction of lines to give shape to forms. In the central foreground is a mule team, and
buildings resembling a farm rise up in the background. The mule carries a heavy load while three peasants
tend to him. Smoke rises from one of the structures in the background, and small figures can be seen outside
the building. Both uses cross hatching in the buildings to create strong chiaroscuro effects, and other examples
of this technique appear at the feet of the central figures. Other prints in the series from which this work
comes illustrate landscapes with small scenes of humans and animals interacting. While most of Both’s paintings are done in the grand manner of the Italianate artists, his prints are more varied in subject, with genre scenes especially favored.
Chris Strailman"