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Lot Essay
Jan Brueghel the Younger followed closely in his father's footsteps, taking over the studio upon his father's death in 1625 and working with many of the same patrons and collaborators. River landscapes were a significant part of both Jan the Elder's and Jan the Younger's oeuvres but View on the Scheldt with Antwerp in the distance is unusual for its inclusion of the city not as the setting for a bustling harbor scene but as the subject of the painting. Despite the activity on the river in the foreground, the fall of light on the city in the distance makes it the dramatic focus of the painting. Heavy storm clouds at the left, mirrored by the dark water of the river below, open to reveal a stream of bright sunlight that illuminates the spires of the cathedral, lending it an almost miraculous quality.
Antwerp's economic prosperity had been dependent on the Scheldt since the early sixteenth century and the shock of both the Iconoclasm of the 1560s and the revolt of the northern provinces in the 1580s led to the end of the city's reign as the center of European trade. The Dutch closed the Scheldt in 1584, blocking the city's access to the sea and severely restricting trade, reducing shipping to around one quarter of its former volume. While Antwerp would never fully recover from these military and economic blows, the Twelve Years' Truce (1609-21) brought about a brief period of recovery for the city and it is this hope that Brueghel's painting seems to convey. The dark clouds of war have parted and the sun shines once again on God's chosen city. Indeed, the Virgin was the city's patron and she appears, together with God the Father, Christ and a host of angels in Abel Grimmer's View of Antwerp (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp), signed and dated 1600. They appear in the sky above the city, which opens out beneath them, the skyline dominated by the cathedral dedicated to the Virgin.
Ertz dates View on the Scheldt with Antwerp in the distance to around 1625, during the period of greatest overlap between the father's and son's works when Jan the Younger's paintings were of the highest quality. Jan the Younger painted other views of the city around the same time. Harbor scene in Antwerp (Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp), is a bustling port scene crowded with fishermen sorting and selling the day's catch. There is a palpable air of nostalgia to both works, which seem to pay homage to the city whose time had passed.
Antwerp's economic prosperity had been dependent on the Scheldt since the early sixteenth century and the shock of both the Iconoclasm of the 1560s and the revolt of the northern provinces in the 1580s led to the end of the city's reign as the center of European trade. The Dutch closed the Scheldt in 1584, blocking the city's access to the sea and severely restricting trade, reducing shipping to around one quarter of its former volume. While Antwerp would never fully recover from these military and economic blows, the Twelve Years' Truce (1609-21) brought about a brief period of recovery for the city and it is this hope that Brueghel's painting seems to convey. The dark clouds of war have parted and the sun shines once again on God's chosen city. Indeed, the Virgin was the city's patron and she appears, together with God the Father, Christ and a host of angels in Abel Grimmer's View of Antwerp (Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp), signed and dated 1600. They appear in the sky above the city, which opens out beneath them, the skyline dominated by the cathedral dedicated to the Virgin.
Ertz dates View on the Scheldt with Antwerp in the distance to around 1625, during the period of greatest overlap between the father's and son's works when Jan the Younger's paintings were of the highest quality. Jan the Younger painted other views of the city around the same time. Harbor scene in Antwerp (Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp), is a bustling port scene crowded with fishermen sorting and selling the day's catch. There is a palpable air of nostalgia to both works, which seem to pay homage to the city whose time had passed.