Artwork
Landscape with Runaway Horses
Landscape with Runaway Horses is an ink print by the Baroque artist Ercole Bazicaluva. It dates from 1638 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1638, *Landscape with Runaway Horses* is an etching on laid paper by the Italian printmaker Ercole Bazzicaluva. Executed during the Baroque era, the work presents a tranquil countryside where two horses break into a sprint across a grassy plain, observed by a small group of figures near a water’s edge.
Subject & Meaning
The composition juxtaposes the sudden motion of the horses with a calm rural backdrop that includes a modest house, a cluster of buildings, and a line of trees. The presence of onlookers suggests a narrative of human interaction with nature, emphasizing both the vitality of the animals and the serenity of the landscape.
Technique & Style
Bazzicaluva employed the etching process on laid paper, using fine, incised lines to render texture and movement. Delicate hatching conveys the wind‑ruffled foliage and the musculature of the horses, while subtle cross‑hatching defines the sky’s wispy clouds, exemplifying the precise linework typical of early‑17th‑century printmaking.
History & Provenance
Active in the early 1600s, Bazzicaluva specialized in landscape prints that reflected Baroque interests in dynamic composition and natural detail. The etching has remained within collections of European prints, documenting the artist’s contribution to the development of Italian etching during a period of expanding print circulation.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Ercole Bazzicaluva, also spelled Bezzicaluva or Bazzicaluve (active 1640), was an Italian engraver of the Baroque period.
