Moonlight Landscape

The Italian painter Guercino executed several painted and drawn landscapes in this style. The forms are balanced and there is a harmonious calm in the picture. The tree trunks and the carriage in the foreground are articulated against the water, the castle, and the sailboats in the background, creating a sense of depth in the picture. The moonlight creates a particular mood. In the seventeenth century, landscape painting developed into its own genre. The landscape per se became the motif without needing to contain a narrative scene.