(Antwerp 1580–1662)
A wooded landscape with an elegant hunter on horseback,
oil on panel, the reverse marked with the brand of the Antwerp panel makers’ guild, 76 x 102 cm, framed

Provenance:
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 16 April 1980, lot 62;
with Galerie Dr. Riedl, Munich;
Private collection, Belgium

Literature:
K. Ertz, C. Nitze-Ertz, Adriaen van Stalbemt (1580–1662). Kritischer Katalog der Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik, Lingen 2018, no. 85, p. 290, illustrated

The present painting relates to a comparable work by Stalbemt in the Staatliches Museum, Schwerin (inv. no G 16). Klaus Ertz, the author of the monograph on the artist, dates both the Schwerin painting and the present panel to circa 1615 (see literature). The contrast between light and dark in the Schwerin work is praised by the author. Although the present composition is dominated by the impressive, dense oak trees and their dark shadows, this contrast is also present here. The artist subtly directs the viewer’s gaze towards the bright open field in the distance, where the main scene of the painting unfolds. On the left bank, a deer being chased has just crossed the water. In the foreground, one of the huntsmen runs across the bridge, followed by the pack of hounds.

Adriaen van Stalbemt was born in Antwerp, but following the city’s fall in 1585, his protestant parents sought refuge in Middelburg. It was in this northern harbour city that Van Stalbemt presumably was trained, although no record of any master in particular is known. The artist returned to his hometown in 1609, where he became Dean of the Guild of Saint Luke in the same year. Renowned for his Brueghelian landscapes with religious and mythological scenes, he was also invited to paint staffage in compositions by other artists as well. During his ten-month sojourn in England, Van Stalbemt worked for King Charles I, who collected five of his landscapes. It was presumably Anthony van Dyck who recommended the artist to his patron and who included Van Stalbemt’s portrait in his Iconography, an extensive collection of engraved portraits of the artist’s contemporaries.