Landscape with Wine Harvest. Artist: Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini) (Italian, Cortona 1596-1669 Rome). Dimensions: Sheet: 14 9/16 x 19 5/16 in. (37 x 49 cm). Date: ca. 1630.A work of the artist's mature years, this composition was probably a presentation piece for a patron, judging from its high degree of finish and virtuoso technique. The drawing was painted almost entirely with the tip of the brush to obtain delicately pictorial effects of light (for example, in the rays emanating from between the clouds and in the highlights on the bark of the trees), and an atmospheric conception of space. It portrays an idyllic, classically inspired scene in which the magnificent scale and robust vegetation of the landscape, with ancient Roman ruins and distant towns and farmhouses, overpower the small figures of the farm laborers harvesting grapes in the foreground. The dynamic presentation of the scene and the dazzling technical skill seen here attest Pietro da Cortona's stature as one