Jacob de Wet the Elder, 'A Landscape with a River at the Foot of a Hill', probably about 1646
About the work
Overview
This moody landscape is Jacob de Wet’s only landscape without biblical figures, though the stunted, windswept tree in the foreground and the castle tower behind it are repeated – with variations – in his painting Abraham and Melchizedek (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin). At this point in the development of landscape painting, pictures of country scenes were considered lower in status than scenes of stories from the Bible or from classical mythology.
It’s thought that the artist may have been a pupil of Rembrandt in the 1630s. The stormy rendering of the evening sky and the strange, rather eerie outlines of the trees against it, as well as the rushing river in the foreground, perhaps have something of Rembrandt’s sense of drama.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Landscape with a River at the Foot of a Hill
- Artist
- Jacob de Wet the Elder
- Artist dates
- active 1632; died after 1675
- Date made
- probably about 1646
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 53 × 72.5 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1891
- Inventory number
- NG1342
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.