5. Jan van Noort (ca. 1620-ca. 1676)
after Pieter Lastman (1583-1633)

Landscape with the Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli

(click on image to print)
van Noort, Landscape with the Temple

Landscape with the Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli

Etching, 1645, Hollstein 2 i/ii, 164 x 212 mm., ex collections: Graf von Enzenberg (Lugt 845); Thomas Graf (L. 1092a); HSF (not in L.) Very beautiful, strong but delicate impression of this rare print, on laid paper with the watermark of a fleur-de-lis in a crowned shield with initials WR, trimmed on the platemark but outside the borderline; a small, very pale brown stain. The Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli outside Rome, once seen, is one of the more memorable sights of the world, standing high above a gorge into which plunge the waters of the Aniene River. But the landscape into which Lastman (and therefore van Noort) has set the temple bears little resemblance to its actual setting and is obviously remembered from someplace else. It is a lovely image, with farm gates on either side framing the foreground, curious doors in the rock, a fascinating play of light and the almost magical depiction of a distant town. Van Noort, though he studied with Rembrandt, is thought to have made only a few etchings, but his obvious mastery of, and sensibility to, etching technique is astonishing.