‘Diverses veues deseignees en la Ville de Rome’: Herman van Swanevelt’s 1650 print series for Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux

Herman van Swanevelt (c. 1603-1655) was born in Woerden in the Netherlands but lived for an unknown period in Paris before travelling to Rome c. 1629, where he became a successful landscape painter and printmaker with an elite clientele. He returned to Paris c. 1643 and was equally prosperous, his success due to his pastoral landscape paintings and etched views of Rome. The focus of this article is the sequence of thirteen etchings of Roman landscapes entitled ‘Diverses veues deseignees en la Ville de Rome’, that Swanevelt executed for a French patron, the Sieur Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux (1619-1692) in 1650. Tallemant was renowned for his ‘Historiettes’, short, sometimes scurrilous biographies of elite members of the ‘Ancien Regime’, and had a prestigious position as councillor to the French High Court.

To provide a context for the commission, a fresh view is offered of Tallemant and the relevance of the prints to his character and experience, in particular the journey he made to Rome in 1638. Despite his Protestant background, the patron’s activities included visiting the Palazzo Barberini, family residence of pope Urban VIII Barberini (reigned 1623-1644). The major resident was Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1607-1671), who was responsible for diplomatic relations with France and, during Tallemant’s visit, a key figure in celebrations marking the birth of a Dauphin to the French crown.

At this time the cardinal was also taking possession of a large number of mythological landscapes in pastoral settings, commissioned from Herman van Swanevelt. It is suggested that artist and patron may have already met in this milieu in Rome. This, and other aspects of Swanevelt’s and Tallemant’s careers are examined to make points of connection. The nature of the commission, the undated prints’ conception, style, content, execution and publication are analysed to establish their novelty in the French printmaking environment, as well as the role they played in establishing Swanevelt’s status as an independent designer, printmaker and publisher in Paris.