Beskrivning: Rosa uppskattade särskilt Garfagnana, den kargaste delen av de apuanska alperna i Toskana. Detta landskap associerades länge med härjande fredlösa och legoknektar vilka konstnären också införlivade i sina målningar. Under 1700-talet blev Rosa själv en mytisk figur, en rövare till målare som ignorerade konstens regelverk. Hans landskap med rövare var populära och inspirerade konstnärer som Andrea Locatelli. Romantikens författare idoliserade honom.

Res. Katalogtext: Se beskrivning i den engelska versionen.

Description: Rosa particularly appreciated Garfagnana, the rockiest part of the Apuan Alps in Tuscany. This landscape was long associated with robbers and mercenary soldiers which the artist included in his paintings. During the 18th century, Rosa himself became a mythical figure, a bandit of a painter who ignored all of the rules of art. His landscapes with robbers and highwaymen were popular and inspired artists like Andrea Locatelli. Romantic authors idolized him.

Catalogue raisonné: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 54: 

FORMER INV. NOS.: 41 (M. 1796–97); 88 (F. 1798); 144 (M. 1804);
KM 311.

TECHNICAL NOTES: The painting support consists of a
single piece of sparsely woven, plain-weave linen fabric. 
It has been lined with glue and mounted with staples on
a Martelli strainer. The tacking edges have been partially 
cropped. This was probably done in Italy before shipping
to Sweden. A red ground covers the whole support. 
There are a few old retouches. The painting is in
good condition. Documented restorations: 1975: 
Cleaning, filling and retouching of scratch.

PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sander 1872–76, III, p. 105, no. 144.

The present painting is attributed to Locatelli
and described as “Paysage avec des Soldats” in
Fredenheim’s catalogue.¹ On the original verso label
it is described by Corvi and Tofanelli as “Lucatelli
(ad imitazioni di Salv. Rosa) – Campagna”.

The painting in the Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford, that directly corresponds to the present
one is described by Busiri Vici as “one of Locatelli’s
finest scenes in the Rosa manner” .²
Busiri Vici considers the figures to be some of
Locatelli’s best, and he especially singles out the
seated soldier in the centre, who is also included
by Locatelli, together with the standing figure, in
another canvas, in the Landesmuseum, Oldenburg.
³ The quality of the figures in the Nationalmuseum
painting is on a par with, or even superior
to, those of the Ashmolean painting; this is
perhaps most clearly apparent in the execution of
their raiment and the details of their faces. As the
Nationalmuseum canvas is larger, depicting more
to the left of the rock on which the figures are
grouped, the whole composition also make more
of a dramatic impression. It seems here as if the
rock is actually quite high and that the figures
are in fact quite close to a steep precipice. This
feeling is accentuated by Locatelli’s fine depiction
of the darker clouds on the left-hand side.

As this painting has not received a true Nationalmuseum
inventory number, with the NM
prefix, but retains the number it received while
deposited at Drottningholm Palace, Busiri Vici
was not aware of its existence when he compiled
his great Locatelli catalogue in 1976. Had he
known of the painting’s existence, the specifics
concerning the relationship of NM 96 (cat. no.
53) to the Ashmolean paintings would probably
have been made all the clearer. In addition, Corvi
and Tofanelli’s assured attribution and description
of the two Nationalmuseum paintings show
that connoisseurs in 18th-century Rome were
well aware of Locatelli’s ability to work in Rosa’s
manner. This further confirms Busiri Vici’s arguments
to this effect and refutes Ozzola’s contrary
conviction.⁴
dp

1 NM Archives, Kongl. Museum, F:1, Catalogue du Cabinet
de Martelli (à Rome).
2 Busiri Vici 1976a, cat. no. 151, fig. 132.
3 Ibid., cat. no. 151, fig. 132, and cat. no. 286.
4 Ibid., p. 264, cat. nos. 150–151, figs. 131–132. [End]

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Andrea Locatelli | Landskap med soldater | Nationalmuseum