18th Century, Pair Of Italian Painting With Pastoral Scenes, Londonio School

Pair of large paintings depicting pastoral scenes, Londonio school, second half of the 18th century
Frame: W 157 x H 130 x D 9 cm; canvas: 139 x 110 cm

This pair of large-scale paintings, presented in antique gilded wooden frames with mouldings and corner carvings, depicts 18th-century pastoral scenes typical of the Lombard tradition (Italy) and close to the manner of the Londonio family and their followers, recalling the Bergamo area. The compositions are lively, rich in figures, set outdoors and placed within rural landscapes. In the painting on the left, the foreground features a group of shepherds and young shepherdesses arranged in a way that guides the viewer’s gaze toward the centre of the scene. A seated woman holds a lamb on her lap and appears to be interacting with two young girls who approach her affectionately. To the left, another young woman stands holding a wicker basket filled with straw and two chicks. Her balanced pose and simple yet well-kept attire contribute to the everyday character of the scene. On the right, a young shepherd with a staff resting across his shoulders oversees a varied flock of sheep and goats. The animals, rendered with naturalistic accuracy, are one of the most characteristic elements of the Londonio tradition: expressive, vivid, and carefully portrayed in their postures and in the depiction of their fur. Alongside the sheep appear a donkey and other animals, further enriching the narrative. The background reveals a soft, rolling landscape crossed by a fence and dominated by a distant village, with houses and a church standing out against a cloudy sky. Warm tones and diffused light create a serene, bucolic atmosphere suggestive of a peaceful working day among fields and pastures. The second painting, presented here on the right, features an equally elaborate and lively scene built through a collective narrative of human and animal figures. In the foreground on the left, an elderly shepherd sits on the ground, surrounded by his sheep; his relaxed posture, serene face, and the presence of a small dog by his side infuse the scene with a sense of domestic intimacy. At the centre stands a younger man beside a horse carrying a gourd water flask, a wine barrel, and—attached to the saddle—several baskets containing two small lambs. His gesture, with an outstretched arm pointing into the distance, introduces narrative dynamism and leads the viewer’s eye toward the background. Next to him, on the right, a woman adds a familiar and almost affectionate tone to the pastoral scene. Other figures appear behind her, forming a compact, industrious group. The horse and the various sheep and goats, painted with evident naturalistic attention, again confirm the stylistic influence of the Londonio school, known for its detailed and lively depictions of farm animals. The background presents a wide hilly landscape with a small village perched on a rise. A woodland area with lush green trees adds depth, while the bright sky streaked with light clouds harmonizes the entire composition. The atmosphere of these paintings reflects the simple everyday life of a rural community absorbed in its work, captured in moments of pause or transition. The overall effect conveys a sense of familial harmony, typical of Lombard rustic scenes, where the relationship between people, animals, and landscape is depicted with tenderness and narrative engagement. The figures are reinterpreted in a personal way and gathered into an original composition, drawing inspiration from various engravings by Francesco Londonio, to which they clearly relate through formal and thematic affinities. The Londonio family holds a significant place in the artistic history of Lombardy, in the north of Italy, in the 18th century. Its most renowned member is Francesco Londonio (1723–1783), a Milanese painter and engraver, though the family also included other artists who contributed to the creation of a true school devoted to pastoral painting. The Londonio workshop in Milan became a training ground for several artists: not an institutional school, but a creative environment where style, subjects, and ways of depicting the rural world were handed down. The term Londonio school refers to a group of painters, mostly Lombard, active between the second half of the 18th century and the early 19th century, who drew inspiration from Francesco Londonio’s pastoral scenes, his affectionate naturalism in the depiction of animals, the intimate, everyday compositions, warm colours and soft light, and above all his celebrated engravings, true iconographic matrices used as models. Many of these artists cannot always be precisely identified, but belong to a broad productive stream: works destined for villas, country houses, and bourgeois residences seeking elegant, reassuring rural subjects. Francesco Londonio was born in Milan in 1723. Tradition cites an early training with Ferdinando Porta, a late-Baroque Milanese painter, and later with Benigno Bossi, whose influence brought him closer to engraving. Painting and printmaking remained central throughout his production. Londonio became famous for a genre highly prized at the time: rustic painting. His works portray scenes of shepherds, farmers, flocks of sheep and goats, domestic animals, rustic interiors, and rural landscapes. His style combines elements of Lombard naturalism with influences from Antonio Allegri known as Correggio, Ceruti, Philip Peter Roos, Van Laer and Domenico Brandi, whom he encountered during his travels to Cremona, Rome, and Naples; all fused with a sentimental and idyllic tone that made his works popular among the nobility, the bourgeoisie, and the ecclesiastical world. Admirers included Archbishop Pozzobelli, Cardinal Vitaliano Borromeo, and Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini. In addition to his paintings, Londonio produced numerous etchings—often on the same pastoral subjects—which helped spread his fame beyond Lombardy and are today considered central to the 18th-century Italian engraving tradition. He spent most of his life in Milan, where he continued to paint, engrave, and teach. He died in 1783, leaving a vast corpus of paintings and prints. Londonio is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of Lombard pastoral painting in the 18th century. The author of this pair of works belongs to this tradition, drawing upon Londonio’s iconographic models and reinterpreting them freely. The ability to rework these schemes without losing their original matrix reveals not only a thorough understanding of Londonio’s pictorial language but also a desire to update it through freer and more personal solutions. In this sense, the two paintings under examination stand as significant testimony to the success of the Londonio school in the late 18th century and beyond, showing how his legacy continued to influence artists and patrons sensitive to rural atmospheres, the gentle naturalism of the figures, and the carefully constructed spatial arrangements. The lively colour palette and balanced composition make these large-format works highly decorative and particularly pleasant. They may be displayed above consoles or chests of drawers, or hung side by side on the wall of a living room, study, entrance hall, or corridor, enhancing the charm and dynamism of the décor.
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