(Amersfoort 1653–1736 Rome)
The Abbey of San Nilo in Grottaferrata with monks conversing, Monte Cavo and the village of Rocca di Papa beyond,
oil on canvas, 200 x 175 cm, unframed

Provenance:
possibly commissioned by the Albani Family, Rome;
Private collection;
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 5 July 2006, lot 56 (as Gaspar van Wittel, called Vanvitelli);
where acquired by the present owner, aftersale

Exhibited:
Rome, Chiostro del Bramante, Gaspare Vanvitelli e le origini del vedutismo,
26 October 2002 – 2 February 2003, no. 42 (as Gaspare Vanvitelli)

Literature:
G. Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel, edited by L. Laureati and L. Trezzani, Milan 1996, p. 211, cat. no. 218, p. 221, mentionend under cat. no. 247, p. 404, mentioned under cat. no. D332, illustrated p. 210 (as Gaspar van Wittel);
L. Trezzani, in: F. Benzi, C. Strinati (eds.), Gaspare Vanvitelli e le origini del vedutismo, exhibition catalogue, Rome 2002, p. 154, mentioned under cat. no. 42, pp. 166–167, cat. no. 48 (as Gaspare Vanvitelli)

The present painting of Grottaferrata is dated to the last period of Gaspar van Wittel’s activity (see literature) and it was probably painted, together with the Panoramic View of Tivoli for the Albani family. A preparatory drawing for a view of Grottaferrata, datable to the last decade of the 17th century, is conserved in the National Library in Rome, while another dated 1713, former in the Prints and Drawings Cabinet in Berlin, was lost during the Second World War.

The Dutch-born painter Gaspar van Wittel, Italianised as il Vanvitelli, is considered to be the leader of Italian view painting. He trained in the workshop of Mathias Withoos, an artist specialising in landscapes and still lifes and arrived in Rome in 1674. Here he produced topographical views of the city to illustrate a treatise on the navigation of the Tiber. At the same time, he joined the large community of Dutch artists in Rome, called the Schildersbent.

The artist’s earliest works date to the 1680s and already show a mature style and mastery of landscape or view paintng, including the use of the camera ottica.

The years between 1690 and 1695 Vanvitelli made numerous trips to northern Italy and from 1699 he stayed in Naples for two years, in the service of Viceroy Luis de la Cerda, Duke of Medinaceli and he was later in Urbino between 1717 and 1718 for Cardinal Albani (1717-18).