The Roman Limekilns of the Bamboccianti

Abstract

Pieter van Laer and his followers — the so-called Bamboccianti — have usually been interpreted as realists or near-realists who painted simple, unassuming scenes of everyday life in seventeenth-century Rome. The testimony of their earliest critics gives us reason to suspect, however, that the Bamboccianti were actually pursuing a contrived form of painting that expressed meaning through irony and paradox. This idea is tested by examining one theme treated frequently by the artists in question — limekilns in Roman settings. By witty allusion to both the destruction and persistence of antiquity, pictures of Roman limekilns lead the viewer to contemplate a paradox regarding the nature of greatness and eternity.

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Notes on contributors

David A. Levine

David A. Levine's research has focused primarily on the art of Dutch and Flemish painters active in Italy during the 17th century. He is presently engaged in a broader study of Dutch art and the tradition of paradox [Art Department, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515].