Bartolomeo Pinelli was born in Rome and likely received his earliest training from his father, a sculptor of small-scale nativity scene figures. He later studied formally at the Accademia di San Luca and also briefly in Bologna. Pinelli is known for his lively drawings and engravings of groupings of figures in Rome or in the surrounding countryside. His work demonstrates some of the early qualities of Romanticism, but also retains elements of the Neo-Classical style. Pinelli frequently chose his subjects from the working and rural classes. His engravings such as the Costumi Romanae series of 1809 achieved widespread popularity. In Figures Reclining in a Landscape, Pinelli uses the compositional framework of the popular theme of the “Rest on the Flight into Egypt” to produce a secular image.