A panoramic river landscape with a figure resting, a monumental building and a church tower beyond

On a bank in the foreground of a vast landscape, a lonely traveller in a broad-rimmed hat sits on the verge of a sandy road, a wicker basket by his side and an angling rod leaning over his shoulder. The vast panoramic view is carefully built up by a succession of horizontal bands, one behind the other and water alternating with land. Beyond is an undulating terrain with verdant hills. The steeple of a church rises up from behind a clump of dense trees and further in the distance an imposing monastery or castle punctuates the skyline. The bright sky, which takes up a considerable portion of the composition, is filled with magnificent formations of cumulus clouds.

Previously unknown, this serene panorama constitutes an important addition to the small painted oeuvre of Pieter Post. So far, thirteen paintings have been attributed to Post, only a few of which are signed and dated. 1 Best known as one of the most celebrated architects of the Dutch Golden Age, Post initially made a career as a painter. In the short span of time until 1633, when he became an architect, he produced a modest number of landscapes in a markedly individual style.

Pieter Post's landscapes are nowadays recognized as an original contribution to the development of the Dutch realistic landscape. Painted in a muted palette and giving free reign to capturing the light and atmosphere, our panorama displays all the hallmarks of Post's unique and unusual style. His unconventional compositional layouts, rendition of atmospheric effects and the inclusion of tiny staffage figures that are dwarfed by their surroundings, would reverberate in the Brazilian landscape views of Post's younger brother, Frans.

Although the building in the background has to be regarded as a secondary motif rather than the focal point, its peculiar design suggests it represents an actual building and this, as well as the landscape or part of it, could have been inspired by a topographical source. The building certainly does not look Dutch and since Post is not known to ever have travelled outside The Netherlands, he most likely relied on a drawing or print. 2


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1 Sturla Gudlaugsson was the first to publish a concise survey of Post's works: 'Aanvullingen omtrent Pieter Post's werkzaamheid als schilder', Oud Holland 69, 1954, pp. 59-71. A summary catalogue was included in: J.J. Terwen, K. Ottenheym, Pieter Post (1608-1669): architect, Zutphen, 1993, p. 246 (bijlage IV), and a reassessment in Q. Buvelot, A Choice Collection: Seventeenth-century Dutch paintings from the Frits Lugt Collection exh. cat. , The Hague, Mauritshuis, 2002, p. 213, note 5.
2 In its design it shows a faint resemblance to the City Castle of Berlin and to Castle Kronborg in Elsinore at the Sound. According to Koen Ottenheym, professor of architectural history at Utrecht University, the building and landscape remind of Northern Brandenburg and Sweden, but he is unable to identify the building. Neither was Laurens Schoemaker, curator of historical topography at the RKD, The Hague. We kindly thank both of them for looking into this.