Along with Jan Frans Van Bloemen, Andrea Locatelli was one of the most important landscape painters active in Rome during the first half of the 18th century. Work by both these artists is indebted to 17th century landscape painting, specifically to that of Claude Lorrain (1600-1982). Furthermore, their works mark an important period in the development of landscape painting which took place during the second half of the 18th century, when artists such as Claude Joseph Vernet and Hubert Robert travelled to Rome to study the models of Locatelli and Van Bloemen.
It can be noted that as early as 1723 Nicola Pio was already aware of the importance of Andrea Locatelli, evident in his publication Le Vite di Pittori Scultori et Architetti, where he wrote: “… poi con il suo bello ingegno e con i suoi talenti si pose a studier da sé, e Marine e Bamboccianti nelle quali ha havuto sempre il suo Genio.” His work was sought after by some of the most important Roman families and by the Papal court. Nicola Pio records how Locatelli “andasse continuamente operando per i Signori Romani, Inglesi e altri Forastieri.”
Among the Roman collectors, the most important were the Cardinals Pietro Ottoboni and Alessandro Albani as well as the Princes Ruspoli and Colonna, for whom Locatelli painted more than 80 works “una stanza tutta dipinta a sughi d’erba e colori in dieci pezzi, o riquadri fra grandi e piccoli, e rappresentanti paesi.”
