Group of Figures by a River
1620s
Medium
Pen and brown ink with brush and brown ink, on buff laid paper, laid down on ivory laid card
Dimensions
13.6 × 25.4 cm (5 3/8 × 10 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
81816
Art Historical Context
In the tranquil "Group of Figures by a," created by Italian Baroque artist Agostino Tassi in the 1620s, we glimpse a serene riverside scene alive with human activity. Tassi, a Roman painter renowned for his atmospheric landscapes and illusory architectural vistas (quadraturista), captures a group of figures—perhaps travelers or laborers—gathered along a winding waterway, framed by lush foliage and distant hills. This pen and brown ink drawing, heightened with brushwork on buff laid paper, exemplifies the preparatory sketches favored by 17th-century artists for their paintings, measuring a mode...