(Antwerp 1584–1635 Amsterdam)
A rocky river landscape with shepherds, goatherds and their livestock resting by a bridge,
oil on panel, 36.5 x 51.8 cm, framed

Provenance:
sale, Phillips, London, 7 July 1998, lot 162

The present rocky landscape, with Mediterranean light illuminating the clouds above and reflected in the water below, is characteristic of the oeuvre of Willem van Nieulandt, whose artistic formation in Italy is evidenced by the current composition.

Trained first by Jacob Savery in Amsterdam, van Nieulandt was active in Rome in 1602-1603, assisting his uncle Willem van Nieulandt the Elder. The current work also exhibits influences from Paulus Bril, who received several commissions from Popes Sixtus V and Clement VIII, and who engaged several assistants from among his fellow Flemings, among whom was the young van Nieulandt.

In the background of the present work a pyramid, likely based on that of Cestius in Rome, may be glimpsed. Van Nieulandt’s skillfully registed engravings of antique ruins in the city, based on drawings he made in situ, were a popular source for artists and scholars. The rendering of the trees and foliage that frame the left of the composition still exude the naturalistic traditions of Northern painting.