Lot Essay
This is closely comparable to Spring from the artist's series in bodycolour The Four Seasons from the Goldschmidt Collection of slightly smaller format, dated 1621-22, sold at Christie's, New York, 12 January 1995, lot 216. In both of them, the central and left sections of the background are based on Aegidius Sadeler's engraving from a series of The Twelve Months in six prints of 1615, Hollstein XXII, no. 125, illustrated. The overgrown rock in the left foreground in Spring is repeated in the present lot, while the waterfall has been replaced by an elegant fountain. The right section of the background in is based on another Sadeler engraving, Hollstein no. 124, from the same series. Though the prints give Paul Bril as inventor of the landscapes, it is now thought that these were designed by Pieter Stevens. The date '1607' may refer to the date on the prototypes. The idealised vision of Italy shown in the prints suggested by the villas in the background is improved upon in the drawing, in which bright colours vividly evoke the clarity of Italian light. The drawing is, however, purely imaginary as Brentel never crossed the Alps, and his knowledge of Italy was based entirely on prints such as by Sadeler.