Mountainous Landscape with Hermits
1676–1730
Medium
Gouache on kidskin
Dimensions
11-3/4 x 17-5/16 in. (29.9 x 43.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Harry G. Sperling, 1971
Accession Number
1975.131.46
Tags
Art Historical Context
Marco Ricci's *Mountainous Landscape with Hermits* (ca. 1700–1730) captures the sublime beauty of jagged peaks and serene valleys in a compact gouache on kidskin, just 11-3/4 x 17-5/16 inches. This Venetian artist's intimate drawing depicts solitary male figures—likely hermitsamidst towering mountains, with a prominent cross symbolizing spiritual retreat and contemplation. Ricci, active during the late Baroque period, drew from the grand landscape traditions of his native Italy, blending real and imagined vistas in a style that foreshadowed the vedute of later masters like Canaletto. The choi...
About the Artist
Marco Ricci · 1676–1730
Marco Ricci (1676–1730) was born on June 6 in Belluno, in the Republic of Venice, into a family steeped in artistic tradition as the nephew of the renowned Baroque painter Sebastiano Ricci. He received his first instruction in art from his uncle, likely during a period in Milan from 1694 to 1696, before accompanying Sebastiano to Venice in 1696, from which he soon fled amid personal troubles. Ricc...