Lot Essay
Frans de Momper was the nephew of the better-known Joos de Momper, and painted numerous monochrome landscapes in the manner of Jan van Goyen. The impression of expansive spaces, as well as the feathery trees, belong to the Italo-Flemish tradition practiced by Joos. Winter landscapes were one of Frans's favorite themes, and in these he builds on the examples set by Paul Bril and Jan Breughel the Elder in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century.