The Cascades at Tivoli

Additional texteDescription: Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, 182 x 251 mm. Verso: Group of figures, pen and brown ink. Ruled framing lines in brown ink. In the sky, diagonal drying marks and a light brown spot. Watermark: Dove in a circle (close to Heawood 177: Rome 1646). Chain lines: 26–28 mm. Inscribed in the upper left corner, in pen and grey ink, Bramer fecit. On the verso, in pen and brown ink, water val te tivoli. This drawing can be connected with a group of similar Italian motifs, with common stylistic traits. Several of them have old attributions to W. van Nieulandt, in particular a group in Berlin, while others are attributed to Bramer and other artists. Keyes lists sixteen drawings which he regards as possibly by Jacob Pynas. As is the case with the present drawing, Pynas has been suggested at various times. Two drawings are inscribed with Bramer’s name, and Schatborn argues that they are probably by him, executed when he and artists like Jan Pynas and Pieter Lastman were in Rome in the 1610s. It seems that our drawing differs somewhat in character from the rest of the group. In fact, the character of the figures drawn on the verso supports the attribution to Bramer. [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 97]