Landscape with Monks

This 1705 Landscape with Monks at the National Galleries of Scotland is an unusual subject for Ricci, better known for mythological and religious figure compositions. The monastic landscape subject, associating religious withdrawal with the contemplation of natural beauty, was more typical of Venetian and Lombard landscape specialists than of the figure painters who dominated Italian Baroque production. The National Galleries of Scotland's substantial Italian collection, built through various acquisitions over centuries, preserves this unusual Ricci in a context that demonstrates the range of his production beyond his characteristic mythological and narrative subjects.

The landscape is rendered with a warmth and luminosity typical of Ricci's palette, the monastic figures providing scale within a composition that demonstrates his less-celebrated but accomplished landscape painting.