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

About the work

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.

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

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.

More works by Jan Brueghel the Elder

Bouquet in a Clay Vase
Bouquet in a Clay Vase
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The Adoration of the Kings
The Adoration of the Kings
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Jan Brueghel seems to have squeezed a whole world into his tiny picture. A crowd waits patiently for a turn to come closer to the little child on his mother’s knee. The baby is bare, to show us that he’s a real human baby, but the silvery arrow of light tells us something more.The old man kneelin...
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The Interior of a Gothic Church looking East
The Interior of a Gothic Church looking East
Hendrick van Steenwyck the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder
Although this picture shows an imagined interior rather than a real church, it is highly detailed. The lead of the windowpanes is visible, and the subjects of some of the paintings that hang on the pillars can be identified (on the closest pillar on the left, Christ is depicted with the woman of...
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Croesus and Solon
Croesus and Solon
Hendrick van Steenwyck the Younger and follower of Jan Brueghel the Elder
This painting depicts a legendary moment recounted by the ancient Greek historians Herodotus and Plutarch: Solon, an Athenian philosopher and lawmaker, disputes with Croesus, King of Lydia, on the subject of happiness.We see Solon approach Croesus as he passes through the ruler’s palace at Sardis...
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Pan pursuing Syrinx
Pan pursuing Syrinx
Hendrick van Balen the Elder and Follower of Jan Brueghel the Elder
The god Pan pursues the virginal nymph Syrinx, who flails her arms as she teeters on the edge of the river Ladon, a frog escaping out of her path. She is moments from being transformed by river nymphs into reeds, in answer to her prayers to escape her unwanted suitor. Pan would later use these re...
Room 27