Johannes Lingelbach
View of the harbor of Livorno with merchants, a ship and the statue of Ferdinand I de’ Medici, after 1644
Oil on canvas, 49,5 x 57 cm.
Inventory number: 0232NMK
Date of acquisition: Bought before 1905
Johannes Lingelbach was born in Frankfurt in 1622, soon after moving with his family to Amsterdam, Netherlands while he was still in his childhood years. Over the course of his life, he would visit France and Italy several times, becoming particularly inspired by Italian art during his stays in Italy. Lingelbach also had a great talent for painting figures and animals, and many of the other contemporary artists of his time - including Meindert Hobbema - paid Lingelbach to populate their landscapes. Lingelbach’s work depicts a scene at the harbour of Livorno, which can be recognised from the statue of Ferdinand I de Medici located on the right. Lingelbach also visited Livorno on his journey to Rome and drew sketches of the harbour. He would make use of these sketches throughout the rest of his career, where he produced several paintings of Livorno’s harbour. This picture depicts two prisoners in leg irons on the left, while on the right are two chatting merchants sitting on the road and on top of packaged goods while waiting for the ship’s departure.
Until the year 2019, the work was simply attributed to ‘unknown artist’, but following a review by art historians, it was determined that it had been produced by Lingelbach, precisely due to the well-known statue and other special features in the painting that are distinctive of his work.
