DOMENICHINO
(b. 1581, Bologna, d. 1641, Napoli)

River Landscape with a Boatman and Fishermen

c. 1605
Oil on canvas, 58 x 75 cm
Private collection

One of only about twenty such landscape paintings by Domenichino, this river landscape is amongst the best documented of the artist's works in the genre. In his biography of the painter Bellori describes it among the best examples of Domenichino's landscapes.

Domenichino executed this painting soon after his arrival in Rome in 1602. Once there, the artist became a close protégé of Annibale Carracci, who no doubt encouraged the younger painter's foray into landscape painting both by example and by direct exhortation.

Two preliminary drawings for the painting are known.