Muleteers beside an Italian Ruin, Jan Asselijn, c. 1650
oil on canvas, h 67cm × w 82cm More details
Asselijn had spent time in Rome, where he recorded his impressions in drawings. Once back in Amsterdam, he painted this view of a huge aqueduct. This monument to the faded glory of ancient Rome now shelters simple country folk and their herds. In the sunlight beneath one arch, a traveller is relieving himself, just like the urinating donkey in the foreground that partially conceals him.
