Drawn to warmth

the long version

In the 16th and 17th centuries Italy acted like a magnet to artists from Northern Europe. They went to draw the classical monuments and the landscape, and to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the Renaissance. Back in the Low Countries, they used the impressions they had absorbed during their stay in the south in their paintings, drawings, and prints. Drawn to Warmth presents the first representative survey of drawings by these artists. An account of their travels and their adventures in Italy accompanies illustrations of many of the works they made there. There are examples by Paul Bril, Cornelis Poelenburch, Jan Aselijn, Jan Both, among others. Many of these drawings appear in print for the first time. The book also looks at a number of artists who did not themselves go to Italy, but who were inspired by their more widely traveled colleagues in the Netherlands.