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Jan Brueghel the Elder, 'Landscape with Travellers and Peasants on a Track', 1610

Key facts
Full title Landscape with Travellers and Peasants on a Track
Artist Jan Brueghel the Elder
Artist dates 1568 - 1625
Date made 1610
Medium and support Oil on copper
Dimensions 33 × 50.2 cm
Inscription summary Signed
Acquisition credit On loan from the Peter Meyer Collection
Inventory number L1097
Location Room 27
Image copyright On loan from the Peter Meyer Collection, © The Peter Meyer Collection
Collection Main Collection
Landscape with Travellers and Peasants on a Track
Jan Brueghel the Elder

A convoy of travellers in horse-drawn carriages encounters a group of peasants dancing to the music of a violin. Other anecdotal scenes can be seen, like a man resting in the grass. The background opens up to a vast valley, providing a view of the town in the far distance.

Between 1600 and 1610, Jan Brueghel executed more and more peasant scenes that show the influence of his father Pieter Bruegel the Elder, such as the couples dancing. This painting also indicates that, around 1600, the artist used more orthogonal compositions, with a vertical accent given by the trees on the left, and a horizontal one given by the hills on the right. In earlier works, like the Harbour scene with Christ preaching, everything is generally more organised along diagonal lines.

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