Three Men Carrying Staffs
Herman van Swanevelt made this. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
The image shows a landscape scene viewed from an elevated perspective. The horizon is low, with mountains visible in the distance. The scene features detailed brushstroke technique and a monochromatic palette. Trees dominate the left side, with two figures walking along a path towards the horizon. The color palette is black and white, accentuating details, light, and shadow.
Description from the National Gallery of Art.
Herman van Swanevelt made this. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Etching
- The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.
Herman van Swanevelt
Dutch, c. 1600–1655
Van Swanevelt, from Woerden in Holland, spent the late 1620s and 1630s in Rome, where he worked in the circle of Claude Lorrain and became one of the Dutch painters who carried the golden light of the Roman Campagna into northern landscape. He settled in Paris in the 1640s, painted decorations there and became a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. His many landscape etchings spread his Italianate style widely.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The National Gallery of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1973.32.20
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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