Mediterranean Harbour Scene, 1669

About the Work

Commerce brings Europe and the Orient into contact. Sailors lower the sails; stevedores are already unloading the cargo. Among the goods is a globe, revealing its European origins – also alluded to by the cross and ‘Woman of the Apocalypse’ on the ship. Before an ancient funerary monument, a moustachioed merchant is evidently negotiating with a sumptuously dressed Oriental. Johannes Lingelbach, a native of Frankfurt, sojourned in Rome from 1642 to 1644. He adopted the theme of the exotic harbour from other ‘Italianists’ and enhanced it with narrative details.