(Kortrijk 1576 –1639 Utrecht)
A rocky wooded landscape with peasants near a stream,
signed and dated lower right: SAVERY/ 1609,
oil on copper, 25.8 x 18.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Dr Hans Wetzlar (1894–1970), Amsterdam;
with Julius Böhler, Munich;
acquired by Max Michel Forell (1916–1912), Munich, 1958;
thence by descent;
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 7 December 2017, lot 144 (as Roelandt Savery);
art market, Belgium, 2019;
where acquired by the present owner

The present work was probably executed shortly after the artist’s sojourn in Tyrol, between 1606 and 1607. Emperor Rudolf II had tasked Savery with the delicate mission of capturing the ‘wonders’, or natural phenomena, of the region for inclusion in his esteemed Kunst- and Wunderkammer. The present work reflects Savery’s practice of preparing sketches "en plen air" of waterfalls, mountain peaks and panoramic views, before returning to his studio where he transformed the images into paintings in oil. The present copper plate relates in size and composition to two pairs of paintings in oils on copper. The most prestigious pair is dated 1608 and formerly belonged to the emperor and is now conserved in the Niedersächsische Landesgalerie, Hannover (inv. nos. VAM 933–934). The second, comparable pair was sold at Sotheby’s, New York (see sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 22 April 2015, lot 4).

Roelandt Savery was trained by his brother Jacob and became active in the Northern city of Haarlem where he settled with his family after fleeing the Spanish persecution. In 1603 he was invited to the court of Rudolf II in Prague along with a group of artists active in different disciplines. Several of the artists, including Savery, originated from the Low Countries, for example the silversmith Paulus van Vianen, sculptor Adriaen de Vries, and the painter Bartholomeus Spranger. All had access to the greatest imperial collection of their time and were commissioned with contributing works to this illustrious assemblage. Apart from his depictions of views around Prague and Tyrol, Savery’s landscapes are often populated with animals or portray biblical or mythological narratives. In 1616 the artist returned permanently to the Netherlands, setting up a studio in Utrecht where, along with his friends Ambrosius Bosschaert I and Balthasar van der Ast, he became a celebrated painter of floral still lifes.