(Flemish school, late 16th century) A wood landscape and a hunting party, pen and brown ink, brown and grey wash, on laid paper, inscribed "Brueghel" in pen and brown ink, at lower right margin, 28 x 43,5 cm, mounted, framed, (Sch)

Literature: For comparable drawings see: "Dessins flamands et hollandais du XVIIe siecle du Musee de l'Ermitage, Leningrad et du Musee Pouchkine a Mouscou", exh.cat. L'Institut Neerlandais de Paris, Jan.-Feb. 1973, Cat. 17, fig. 15; auction cat. Sotheby's Amsterdam, Nov. 6, 1978, lot 47 (ill.).

The master of the Hermitage sketchbook whose identity was confused for a long time with Louis de Caullery (1580-1621) and David Vinckboons (1576-1632) was presumably a Flemish artist who was active as a landscape artist in the late 16th century. The name of the artist derives from a group of drawings in the drawing collection of the Hermitage; other works by his hand are preserved in the museums in Berlin, Darmstadt, Düsseldorf and London.

The present large drawing and its soft washes in greyish brown ink are reminiscent of watercolors and are typical for the drawing oeuvre of this artist. Our drawing is comparable with a similar sheet which was sold at Sotheby's in Amsterdam (lot 47) in 1978. Both drawings share a similar understanding of figures and rustic landscape; the present sheet may be dated to 1590 based on approximative dating of the drawing from the art market.