Giovanni Larciani (Master of the Kress Landscapes)

Larciani, Giovanni
Larciani, Giovanni di Lorenzo
Master of the Kress Landscapes

Florentine, 1484 - 1527

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Two pairs of people and a group line a rocky path that stretches away from us in this hilly, horizontal landscape painting. We look slightly down on the path as it travels steeply from the bottom center of the canvas to about the center of the composition. Dark trees and bushes are tucked on top of and between knolls and mounds rising to each side of the path. A pink-stone building with a crenelated walled area and a tower is to the left of center, and a second building is tucked in a shallow valley to the right. The hills pile up as they reach the horizon, which comes almost to the top of the composition. The narrow strip of sky above is muted aqua-blue. The pair of people nearest to us stand close to and facing each other, perhaps holding hands. They both have pale skin and wear voluminous robes. The person on the left has short blond hair and wears cardinal red. The companion wears a black cloak and may wear a turban, but details around the faces and heads of this pair are difficult to make out. A short distance farther along the path is a pair of men wearing gray, hooded monks’ robes. They also have pale skin. The person on the left appears to be cleanshaven and blond, and the man on the right has a beard. The man on the left reaches for the other man’s arm or shoulder, and they face each other. Tiny in scale within the composition, four people by the building with the tower may have pale or brown skin, and they wear clothing painted in tan, pale yellow, and soft red. Two stand facing each other, and one appears to hold a staff. They both gesture or point to a man riding a donkey to our right. Another man hunches over, perhaps pushing or pulling something, close to the building, and a fifth person peeks out an open door there.
Giovanni Larciani (Master of the Kress Landscapes), Scenes from a Legend, probably c. 1515/1520, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.344.b

Scenes from a Legend

Giovanni Larciani (Master of the Kress Landscapes) · probably c. 1515/1520 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.344.b

A person walks across a rocky path with a fortified, wall-enclosed town in the distance in this horizontal painting. The person wears a dark green robe and pink hood or cap, carries a yellow sack slung over one shoulder, and uses a walking stick. Boulders surge to either side of the path, and leafy green trees grow up the right side of the composition. Several swans float on a lake just beyond the trees. Painted in shades of gray, a person rides a camel just beyond a boulder to the left. Other forms painted with thin strokes of red or black could be people walking through the landscape in the distance. A city gate, the walls, and some of the buildings have crenelations. Trees nestle between hills that roll back to hazy, sage-green mountains along the horizon, which almost reaches the top edge of the painting. The sky above is muted blue.
Giovanni Larciani (Master of the Kress Landscapes), Scenes from a Legend, probably c. 1515/1520, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.344.c

Scenes from a Legend

Giovanni Larciani (Master of the Kress Landscapes) · probably c. 1515/1520 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.344.c

This painting depicts a long, horizontal landscape viewed from an elevated angle. On the left, by a group of green trees and bushes, several people stand around one person who is on the back of a white horse. They wear garments in shades of light red, dark green, and pale yellow. In the distance behind them, a gray castle is visible, and farther away boats sail across green water near tree-covered hills. In the center of the painting is a collection of massive gray rocks. A small yellow tent is at the bottom of the rocks, with a group of small people sitting or standing around it. To the right of them, two deer drink from a small blue pool while a person in a gray shirt rests nearby, wrapped in a green cloth. On the right side of the painting, people walk down a long path that ends in a large gray castle or city in the top right corner. Some of the people hold long poles or weapons. The color palette is mostly earthy browns and greens, with dark green trees filling much of the background. The sky is visible in the left and right sections of the painting; it is a greenish blue near the top that fades into a light pink when it meets the distant green hills.
Giovanni Larciani (Master of the Kress Landscapes), Scenes from a Legend, probably c. 1515/1520, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.344.a

Scenes from a Legend

Giovanni Larciani (Master of the Kress Landscapes) · probably c. 1515/1520 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1939.1.344.a