(Utrecht 1656–1701 Amsterdam)
Peasants near the Ponte Salario, Rome,
signed lower left: Heusch J.,
oil on canvas, 67 x 52 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Caterina Volpi for confirming the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for her help in cataloguing this lot.

Caterina Volpi dates the present painting to 1690-1695. This painting can be compared to the Landscape with the Ponte Rotto in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig (inv. no. 410) which was executed in 1696.

The pair of horses in the foreground, one white, the other chestnut, seemingly reiterate a composition by Pieter van Bloemen: the Landscape with farriers in a private collection. It is notable that de Heusch worked in close collaboration with van Bloemen during his Roman years (see L. Salerno, Pittori di paesaggio del Seicento a Roma, Milan 1976-1980, vol. II, p. 859, cat. no. 157.3).

Volpi has suggested that this could be the painting by Jacob de Heusch sold at Christie’s, London, 2 March 1839, lot 12: ‘A view of the Ponte Nuova, with Figures unloading merchandise from, Horses and Peasant Figures: effect of evening Sun – a capital picture’ (see Getty Provenance Index, Sale Catalogue Br – 4980).