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Jan Brueghel the Elder

Landscape with Two Windmills and a Town

Description

Maker

Workshop of Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish, 1568-1625)

Title

Landscape with Two Windmills and a Town

Year

after 1607

Medium

  • Pen and brushpoint with ink,
  • brush and blue and green (faded to blue) washes on antique laid paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Pen and brushpoint with ink,
  • brush and blue and green (faded to blue) washes on antique laid paper

Materials

ink, wash technique

Supports

  • paper

Dimensions

20 x 31.4 cm (7 7/8 x 12 3/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscribed in pen and ink, LL: "J. Brugel"

Stamped LR with the collector's mark of Pier-Jean Mariette (1694-1774; Lugt 1852)

Watermark: Cockatrice (Heawood no. 842, Holland ca. 1611)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Henry D. Sharpe

Object Number

50.297

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

Old Master Drawings from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Alt Author: Johnson, Deborah J.

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Design and Description
Renaissance and Baroque Drawings
Jan 27, 2006 – Apr 09, 2006

Label copy

This sketch is a copy after a painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder probably made by a studio apprentice or relation. The windmills celebrate an important local technology, while the crowded market road indicates the thriving regional economy.

Under the Magnifying Glass
Dutch and Flemish Drawings from the Museum's Collection
Sep 22, 2000 – Jan 14, 2001

Label copy

This finely executed drawing is one of several copies after an oil painting by Jan Breughel the Elder, and was previously thought to have been produced by him. Breughel was one of the leading painters in 17th-century Antwerp. The artist who drafted this sheet was so clearly skilled in replicating Breughel's drawing techniques and style that it may well have been made by a member of his family or studio. Drawings by his son, Jan Breughel the Younger, and by other artists in his circle are difficult to distinguish from drawings signed by the Elder. Although the copyist included minute compositional elements, the drawing technique does not approach the delicacy of Jan the Elder's draftsmanship. This is especially evident in the use of black ink to underline areas of the drawing. Look at the shadows of the wagons and shrubbery in the lower left of the sheet. The heaviness of these lines is uncharacteristic of Jan the Elder. Additionally, none of his signed drawings are preparatory studies for his oil paintings, but instead were intended as finished pieces in themselves. The small scale and highly finished quality of the Elder's drawings made them attractive to collectors in his lifetime; thus, replicating his works would have been lucrative for a copyist, as well as for the Breughel studio. Compositionally, this scene is a departure from traditional Flemish landscapes. Such views, popularized by Jan Breughel the Elder's father, the celebrated Pieter Breughel the Elder (around 1526-69), present a bird's-eye view of mountains, fields, and forests, united in one composition. By dropping the horizon line to the bottom quarter of the paper and placing the roadway at a diagonal to the picture plane, Jan the Elder situates the viewer closer to the land and welcomes his audience into the landscape.

Treasures on Paper
Drawings and Watercolors from the Permanent Collection
Jun 13, 1989 – Aug 19, 1989
Old Master Drawings
Sep 02, 1983 – Oct 16, 1983

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Workshop of Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish, 1568-1625)
Landscape with Two Windmills and a Town, after 1607
Pen and brushpoint with ink, brush and blue and green (faded to blue) washes on antique laid paper
20 x 31.4 cm (7 7/8 x 12 3/8 inches)
Gift of Henry D. Sharpe 50.297

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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