Ruins of a Classical Temple

The Parisian Gabriel Pérelle was a chameleon among landscape etchers: he could compose Italianate scenes, but he also made suites of reproductive prints after Northern masters. He was drawn to antique ruins and Flemish farmsteads in equal measure. A clue to his peculiar mixture of influences is the presence of Jan Asselyn and Herman Swanevelt—two celebrated Dutch Italianates—in Paris around 1647, just when Pérelle’s career was at its height. His later works are difficult to distinguish from those of his younger son, Adam.