Italian Landscape with Ruins

The German painter Jonas Umbach was well known in his day and patronized by a major Augsburg bishop. He was also a prolific printmaker, producing some 300 etchings. This work come from a series of Italian landscapes he may have made during a trip to Italy around 1648. Umbach’s magnificent trees and vistas were particularly influenced by 16th-century German landscapes by the Danube School and 17th-century works by the Dutch painter and printmaker Jacob van Ruisdael. Umbach signed his name and hometown, Augsburg, in the pedestal of the lion statue at the beginning of the series.