A coastal landscape with fishermen with their catch by the Tomb of Scipio

This work uses many of the formal elements that regularly featured in the work of Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625). Having travelled through Italy between 1589 and 1596, the painter made a number of drawings of ruins in and around Rome, elements of which he would later employ in his landscapes. The present composition is effectively an adaptation of two distinct, but related, motifs that reoccur throughout his oeuvre: the Tomb of Scipio, which he had studied in Rome, and a ruined tower overlooking a harbour above a winding path. The picture also displays the impact that the work of painters like Paul Bril had on Brueghel in Italy and how these influences had filtered back to the Netherlands upon his return.

The exact group of figures in the foreground of this picture does not occur in any other of Brueghel’s known works, however the horses, mules and the male figures inspecting their catch all appear individually across his oeuvre and appear to have been adapted from several compositions, cutting and regrouping figure types. Joos de Momper collaborated a number of times with both Jan Brueghel the Elder and after the latter’s death, continued a fruitful working relationship with his son, Jan Brueghel the Younger.

This lot is sold with a copy of a certificate by Dr. Klaus Ertz, dated 14 March 2011, proposing the attribution to Jan Brueghel the Elder.