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| Herman van Swanevelt Porta Pinciana in Rome ca. 1629-41 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Landscape with antique ruin ca. 1629-41 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Wooded landscape, Rome ca. 1630-40 drawing Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
"Although details of Herman van Swanevelt's date and place of birth have not survived, Houbraken – who did not actually devote a biography to him – mentions his Bentvueghel nickname, Heremyt, in a sketch about the lives of Netherlandish artists in Rome. In 1623 Van Swanevelt went to Paris on his way to Italy. . . . We do not know how long Van Swanevelt remained in Paris after 1623 nor when he arrived in Rome. Cornelis Poelenburgh probably left Rome in 1625, Paul Bril died there in 1626 and Bartholomeus Breenbergh returned home in 1629, the first year in which Van Swanevelt is reported as being in Rome. From a group of drawings by Van Swanevelt that he did from life in Italy, it is evident that he was familiar with the work of Poelenburgh and Breenbergh and with that of Paul Bril. In drawings from his imagination, Van Swanevelt borrowed mainly from the work of Bril, most of whose drawings were not done from life. . . . In 1629 Van Swanevelt was living in Rome next door to the painter of battles and genre scenes Michelangelo Cerquozzi, an Italian follower of Pieter van Laer. In 1632-34 he was sharing lodgings with the printmaker and publisher Carlo Vadram, otherwise known as Charles Audran, and other French artists whom he may already have met in Paris. His stay in Rome is documented until 1641 because of his membership in the Guild of St. Luke and by inscriptions on drawings. . . . The Porta Pinciana in Rome is a drawing [at top] from nature in the manner of Poelenburgh and Breenbergh. The gate, viewed from the town, is drawn in broad brushstrokes with deep contrasts. The strong lighting is achieved by leaving areas of the paper blank – exactly the same technique as that used by Poelenburgh and Breenbergh."
– Peter Schatborn, from the catalogue of a 2001 exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, published in English as Drawn to Warmth: 17th-century Dutch artists in Italy, translated by Lynne Richards
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| Herman van Swanevelt River landscape with nymph and river-god 1629-41 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Italianate landscape with fisherman by a river ca. 1630-40 drawing British Museum |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Italian landscape with sportsman shooting ducks ca. 1630-39 drawing British Museum |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Landscape with satyr family on the edge of a wood ca. 1634 drawing British Museum |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Landscape with St Jerome as a hermit ca. 1634 drawing British Museum |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Mercury turning Battus into stone ca. 1635-36 drawing (study for etching) British Museum |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Pan pursuing Syrinx on riverbank ca. 1635-40 drawing British Museum |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Abraham and the three Angels ca. 1635-36 drawing (study for etching) British Museum |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Landscape with Hagar and the Angel ca. 1635-36 drawing (study for etching) British Museum |
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| Herman van Swanevelt Wooded and rocky landscape with Hagar and the Angel ca. 1636-39 drawing British Museum |
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| attributed to Herman van Swanevelt Self-portrait ca. 1620-55 etching British Museum |