Willem Schellinks (Amsterdam 1627-1678)

Basing himself on sketches he made during his travels to France and Italy in the mid-1660s, the Amsterdam artist Willem Schellinks made many large landscapes in pen in the same style as the present sheet, including several with donkeys (for examples from the collection of topographical views assembled by Laurens Van der Hem and held at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, see B. Aikema et al., W. Schellinkx. Viaggio al Sud, 1664-1665/ W. Schellinkx. Journey to the South, 1664-1665, Rome, 1983, nos. 4, 54, ill.). The drawing was previously attributed to Lambert Doomer, with whom Schellinks travelled two decades before to the Loire valley; their drawings have often been confused (see S. Alsteens, [review of E. de Groot and P. van der Krogt, The Atlas Blaeu-van der Hem of the Austrian National Library, 6 vol., ’t Goy-Houten 1996-2008], Master Drawings, XLVIII, no. 1, Spring 2010, p. 111, under no. 6:83, p. 112, under no. 13:10).