(Antwerp 1564–1635) and (Antwerp 1601–1678)
An extensive landscape with travellers,
oil on panel, 52 x 84 cm, framed

Provenance:
sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 13 October 2010, lot 372;
Private European collection

The present painting comes with a certificate issued by Klaus Ertz (in photocopy, June 2010).

This composition is an outstanding example of the collaboration between the landscapist Joos de Momper and Jan Brueghel II. From a slightly elevated vantage point, which according to Klaus Ertz is already far removed from the earlier Flemish perspective of ‘world landscapes’, the spectator views a serene and peaceful scenery. In the right foreground, a group of travellers has settled to take a rest, observing the curved road. Displaying a cheerfulness that harks back to the art of his father and the great tradition of his family, Brueghel rendered this genre element with the technical perfection that is so typical of his art.

The detailed, narrative scene is set in a landscape conceived by Momper. In this impressive example of their collaboration Momper succeeded in combining the landscape ideal of the late Mannerist panorama with a more contemporary approach that anticipated the approach to landscape painting in the second half of the century.