Nicolaes de Bruyn

The large format of this engraving suggests that it was intended to be framed and hung on a wall, offering a decorative alternative for people who could not afford to buy an original oil painting for their homes. The engraver, Nicolaes de Bruyn, was widely known for his reproductions of other artists’ works. This engraving reproduces a painting by the Flemish artist Jan Brueghel, a contemporary of de Bruyn’s whose work was highly sought after by collectors and patrons. In the 1600s, like today, printed reproductions allowed more people to enjoy a popular artist’s work—even if the original was part of a private collection.

As engraving became more international in its scope and technique, engravers began to pick and choose styles that met the demands of their own particular market. The Antwerp artist Nicolaas de Bruyn made the conscious decision to engrave in the style of the much earlier engraver Lucas van Leyden. This delicate, atmospheric approach made up of mostly straight lines was appropriate for De Bruyn’s large-scale landscape scenes, while tapping into a specialized market of Lucas’s admirers. The scale of De Bruyn’s engravings was something new, however. Such large formats may have been intended to be painted and hung on walls as substitutes for paintings.