HEUSCH, Jacob de
(b. 1657, Utrecht, d. 1701, Amsterdam)

The Campo Vaccino, Rome

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Oil on canvas, 124 x 199 cm
Private collection

The present painting is one of a handful of cityscapes Jacob de Heusch painted, much influenced by his fellow countryman, the vedutiste Caspar van Wittel. This impressive view of the Roman Forum is a rare topographical representation of the city by the artist. The painter's lively combination of contemporary figures in a topographically accurate setting was typical of the type of views of the city eagerly sought by both Italian collectors and visiting Grand Tourists.

Here de Heusch depicts the busy daily life of the Roman Forum, known as the 'Campo Vaccino' since the end of the sixteenth century due to the herds of cows that grazed there. Peasants sold their produce and watered their animals in the Forum until the mid-nineteenth century.