An extensive Italianate landscape with travellers on a track

François Simonot was a French painter working in Rome for the Rospigliosi family, according to eighteenth century inventories where a significant number of his paintings are recorded. Also known as 'Monsù Francesco Borgognone', he was a close follower of Van Bloemen. Four temperas on canvas by Simonot were with Sotheby's, Milan (4 October 2000, lots 411-414) and have since been published in the book by Angela Negro, Paesaggio e Figure. Nuove ricerche sulla collezione Rospigliosi, Rome, 2000, pp. 46-47, figs. 7-10. Other documented works are held at Castello Rospigliosi in Maccarese.
We are grateful to Ludovica Trezzani for suggesting the attribution, on the basis of photographs.