The scene depicted by Locatelli in the painting in question is set in a typical Roman landscape, rural and lively, the composition of which develops in successive levels of light and shadow until the horizon fades. Andrea Locatelli, a pupil of Monsù Alto, worked in the service of many Roman noble families and experienced the cultural transformations of the city. The lively climate of Rome and the proximity to works signed by painters such as Salvator Rosa and Jan Frans van Bloemen significantly influenced Locatelli's artistic production. His style is in fact inspired by the realism of his contemporary models and an atmosphere of an Arcadian pastoral and allegorical character comes to life in his works.
The present painting embodies these stylistic peculiarities and makes a comparison with other works of the same As an artist, we understand Locatelli's desire to tell a vision of nature in its most exquisitely bucolic aspects. This comparison can be made with River Landscape with Washerwomen and Shepherds, a work offered for auction by Christie's Auction House, or with Roman Landscape and Wayfarers, a painting preserved at the Francesco Borgogna Museum Foundation in Vercelli. The traits that characterize Locatelli's style are the meticulousness in degrading the plans, starting from flat and decisive shots in the foreground through the representation of rocks, foliage and vegetation, moving in the detailed depiction of the various characters that animate the scene, towards a diluted diaphanous horizon.
ASORstudio