River Landscape

Contrary to most artists of his time, Tassi was not at all interested in representing depth or a gradual recession into the far distance. By means of trees or rocks that block the view, he could reduce a landscape simply to the foreground, often open on one side to a vast expanse of sea or land, like in this drawing. In the 1630s these compositions enjoyed great popularity and were repeated endlessly, for instance by Salvator Rosa, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and Claude Lorrain in his early work.

The small figures are typical of Tassi and recur throughout his career.