Provenance

Galerie Nissl

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It appears that a piece of paper printed in black and gray, showing a portrait of an older, bearded man, has been stuck to a wood panel using a red wax seal in this vertical composition. The cream-colored paper is crinkled and creased with wide margins around the portrait. The printed portrait shows a man from the chest up, angled to our right but looking out at us. The inner corners of his eyes are in deep shadow and he has a bulbous nose over a long, full beard. He wears a wide, soft hat tipped down to our right. He wears a heavy coat or jacket, possibly fur. His hands rest on the top of a cane, suggesting he is seated. A cross hangs from a long chain around his neck. The print is signed at dated at the top right corner of the printed image: “F. Bol. F 1642.” The glimmering red wax seal holding the paper to the wood board is imprinted with a shield. The wood itself is light tan almost with a greenish tint, and it has a dark knot near the lower left corner. Only upon closer inspection do we realize that the entire work is a single painting, and is not an actual print affixed to a wooden board.
Dutch 17th Century, Flemish 17th century, Trompe l'Oeil of an Etching by Ferdinand Bol, c. 1675, oil on panel, Fund given in honor of Derald Ruttenberg's Grandchildren, 2016.3.1

Trompe l'Oeil of an Etching by Ferdinand Bol

Dutch 17th Century, Flemish 17th century · c. 1675 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  2016.3.1

People gather under trees next to an expansive river dotted with boats in this horizontal landscape painting. The people are tiny in scale in the landscape, and they all have light skin. The softly rippling river takes up the right half of the composition. The water is bottle green closest to us, shifting to celestial blue in the distance. The water blends with the same color blue in the sky along the horizon, which comes halfway up the painting. Rowboats and sailboats line the shore along our left and float into the distance, some with sails tied up and others unfurled. In the lower right corner, a ferryboat filled with travelers, horses, and cattle approaches a landing on the lower left. At the landing, a boatman passes a baby to a man standing on the riverbank, while several ladies, a young girl, and a dog wait nearby. On the ground in front of this group is a basket, several packages, and dead fish. A second small group awaits passage just beyond the man receiving the baby. The women wear long dresses and hats or bonnets, and the men wear jackets, knee-length britches, stockings, and caps in shades of royal blue, petal pink, laurel green, ruby red, or white. A copse of trees with tall, slender canopies fills the left third of the composition. People walk along a path through the trees and work in and around boats along the riverbank. Farther back, a stone bridge crosses a stream, and beyond it, tan buildings cluster around a church spire seen through a break in the trees. Above the church, the sky is a pale cream color, and the light streams down to highlight the bridge, buildings, and the water. Birds sit in the trees and fly overhead, while waterfowl gather by the landing, near the lower left. The painting is signed and dated in the lower left: “BRVEGHEL 1607.”
Jan Brueghel the Elder, River Landscape, 1607, oil on copper, Patrons' Permanent Fund and Nell and Robert Weidenhammer Fund, 2000.4.1

River Landscape

Jan Brueghel the Elder · 1607 · oil on copper ·  Accession ID  2000.4.1