(Brussels 1568–1625 Antwerp)
A forest landscape with a horse cart on a path,
oil on copper, 16.3 x 21.9 cm, framed

On the reverse stamped with the copper plate mark of Pieter Stas (active Antwerp 1587-1610) and the coat of arms of the City of Antwerp in the form of two hands above a castle.

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the authenticity after examination of the present painting in the original. A written certificate, dated July 2015, is available.

Ertz dates the painting to around 1605. Ertz writes: ‘In this small wooded landscape, Jan Brueghel the Elder once again exhibits his superb painterly skills. He gives the spectator the feeling of being able to ‘delve’ into this forest. His colleagues Paul Bril and Hans Rottenhamer are two further Flemish artists who had specialised in the production of such small yet highly detailed compositions. Jan Brueghel the Elder had collaborated with them during his journey through Italy. All three of them were specialists when it came to miniature-like paintings on copper. The present painting can be compared to the Forest Interior in Zurich and the Assault in Warsaw, both of which also date from/back to the period around 1605 (see K. Ertz/Ch. Nitze-Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere, Lingen, 2008/10, vol I, pp. 221-224, nos.93 and 95).’