Faggot gatherers in a winter landscape

The support is branded with the coat-of-arms of the city of Antwerp and with the panelmaker's mark of Lambrecht Steens I (active 1608-circa 1632), who is recorded in Ph. Rombouts, Th. van Lerius, De Liggeren en andere Historische Archieven der Antwerpse Sint-Lucasgilde; Antwerp and The Hague 1864-76, p. 446. Formerly known as the Master of the Winterlandscapes, the artist was tentatively identified by P.F.J.J. Reelick, op. cit., pp. 74-79, who erroneously took the branded initials on the support as those of the artist instead of the panelmaker. In 1986 a fully signed work was published (U. Härting, Der Meister der Winterlandschaften, der Maler Gysbrecht Leytens, Die Kunst, 1988, I, p. 27, no. 2); Leytens was thus proved to be responsible for a considerable number of winter landscapes, all characterised by knotty trees with widespread branches and by misty atmospheres.

See colour illustration