(Rome 1748–1817 Perugia)
The Lago Nemi at twilight with figures and a flock of goats resting in the foreground; and
The Waterfalls of Tivoli with figures in the foreground,
oil on canvas, 145 x 194 and 150 x 195 cm, framed, a pair (2)

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy

The present pair of paintings represent, in the first, lake Nemi in the Colli Albani south west of Rome, showing the baronial castle of the hamlet in the distance on the left, and the houses of Genzano which can be made out on the opposite bank. The second painting shows the so-called ‘Large Waterfalls’ at Tivoli, but depict only their lower section, while high on the right, the medieval town with its tower can be seen.

The present paintings should be dated to the final two decades of the eighteenth century and they are distinguished for their large size, the refinement of their execution as well as the unusual approach to the description of nature. In the first the viewer is invited to admire the vast clear sky opening out over the calm surface of lake Nemi, while in the second the heroically dramatic spectacle of nature is expressed in the dark clouds, the force of the waterfall and the surrounding dark and impenetrable forest.

Labruzzi specialised in painting landscapes with historical connotations. In 1789 he met the English Grand Tourist, Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758–1838) by whom he was engaged as a companion-guide on his journey along the Via Appia: Colt Hoare wished to describe the monuments encountered along the way and Labruzzi was commissioned to execute drawings of them. During this journey Labruzzi completed a vast body of drawings of which today 226 are in the Vatican Library while another 188 are in the collection of the Accademia di San Luca, Rome. A third series of about 400 sheets was on the English art market in 1960, and a part of this collection is now conserved in the British Museum.

The German travel writer August von Kotzebue (1761–1819), in Italy in 1804, wrote: ‘Today in Rome the best Italian landscapist is Labruzzi. A pair of naturalistic views of Tivoli and the area are truly excellent’ (cit. in: A. von Kotzebue, Erinnerungen von einer Reise aus Liefland nach Rom, Berlino 1805, II, pp. 231-232) – it is not impossible that the traveller might have seen the view of the waterfalls at Tivoli.