Workshop of Jan Brueghel the Elder

This vibrant and meticulously executed painting is an early, high-quality workshop replica of a work by Jan Brueghel the Elder, signed and dated 1605, in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.¹ The painting’s copper support bears the coppersmith’s mark of Peeter Stas, indicating the work likely dates from the second decade of the 17^th century. Stas supplied a number of his expensive copper plates to the Brueghel family workshop, and the mark on the reverse of this plate dates from around 1606–7.

The copper faithfully follows Brueghel's painting in all aspects but the colouring, which in comparison is warmer in tone. The prototype holds a significant place in the evolution of the compositional style that Brueghel developed for his forest landscapes from the early years of the 17^th century onwards. Central to his approach is the depiction of a meandering path that gently draws the viewer into the depths of the woods. Departing from the bird's-eye view that predominated in the sixteenth century, Brueghel adopted a slightly elevated viewpoint, bringing the viewer closer to the scene and creating a sense of recession by subtle changes in colour and the strategic placement of the figures.

¹ Inv. no. 1880; oil on copper; 25.3 x 35.9 cm.; https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/de/artwork/o5xrdWkG7X