(Rome 1615–1675)
Tiber river landscape with Ponte Milvio, Rome,
oil on canvas, 61 x 93 cm, framed

We are grateful to Andrea G. De Marchi for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

Although Dughet often reworked actual landscapes, the present painting is a significant example of his mastery in illustrating a real-life perspective. This view of the Roman Campagna is seen from the slopes of Monte Mario, near Villa Madama, from where the Tiber and Ponte Milvio can be seen. Comparisons are possible with other realistic views by Dughet, like the View of Tivoli with the Temple of the Sibyl, formerly in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (Sotheby’s online, 20 October 2020, lot 71).

Gaspard Dughet was one of the first artists to sketch, and perhaps even paint, from life the Roman Campagna and his work left a fundamental mark on the later evolution of the genre of landscape painting. His works reveals a significant debt to his brother-in-law, Nicholas Poussin (1594–1665), to whom he was apprenticed between 1631 and 1635.

The present painting can be dated to Dughet’s mature period, after 1660. Characteristics that led to this dating of the present work include Dughet’s later treatment of the clouds and handling of the trees.

Gaspard Dughet was one of the most renowned and highly sought-after landscape painters working in Rome in the seventeenth century and his paintings continued to enjoy significant status, especially in Britain, long into the eighteenth century.