Landscape with Ruins and Two Cows at the Waterside, from a series of four horizontal Roman Landscapes

Jan Both was one of the principal Dutch painters of idyllic Italian views. This print, one of a series of four horizontal Roman landscapes, is in the artist's mature style and was probably executed in Utrecht after his return from Italy in 1641. The variety of linear treatment and the deeper etching of the foreground reveal Both's efforts to capture the effects of Italy's golden light.