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Jan Wijnants, 'A Landscape with a Dead Tree', 1659

About the work

Jan Wijnants was from Haarlem, which lies in the narrow corridor of land between Amsterdam and the sea. He specialised in depicting the landscapes around the town, which were formed largely of sand blown inland from the North Sea beaches and into a series of sometimes spectacularly high dunes. So while this might look like a rocky landscape with a range of hills or mountains that catch the sunlight on the horizon, they are, in fact, ancient sand hills, now overgrown.

No specific location can be identified as a model for this painting, and – like many landscapes of the time – it probably represents an idealised rather than real view. The figures and animals are an important addition, helping the viewer to establish a sense of scale and depth, and also adding interest and dynamism to the scene. They were not painted by Wijnants but by a collaborator, the specialist figure painter Jan Lingelbach.

Key facts

Full title
A Landscape with a Dead Tree, and a Peasant driving Oxen and Sheep along a Road
Artist
Jan Wijnants
Artist dates
active 1643; died 1684
Date made
1659
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
80 × 99.4 cm
Inscription summary
Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1871
Inventory number
NG883
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners

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 Wijnants

A Landscape with a High Dune and Peasants on a Road
A Landscape with a High Dune and Peasants on a Road
Jan Wijnants
This painting is probably a collaboration between Jan Wijnants, who was a specialist landscape painter, and Jan Lingelbach, who added the figures and the animals once the landscape was finished. It was not unusual for painters to work in this way in seventeenth-century Holland.What we see is prob...
Not on display
A Landscape with a Ruined Archway
A Landscape with a Ruined Archway
Jan Wijnants
Jan Wijnants specialised in painting landscapes which evoke the countryside around Haarlem, where he lived and worked. It was an area characterised by ancient sand dunes overgrown by scrubby woodland and open pastures interlaced with winding cart tracks. It was also scattered with picturesque rui...
Not on display
A Landscape with Two Dead Trees
A Landscape with Two Dead Trees
Jan Wijnants
This is a landscape full of sunshine, energy and life. The strong sweeping curve of the track dominates the middle of the picture. Two greyhounds bound along while a horseman and his companion chat easily as they go, and in the distance a pedlar with his pack ambles along behind them. The woodlan...
Not on display
A Track by a Dune, with Peasants and a Horseman
A Track by a Dune, with Peasants and a Horseman
Jan Wijnants
This undulating countryside of ancient sand dunes, found around Haarlem, forms the background to the vast majority of paintings by local artist Jan Wijnants. But while he captured the spirit and atmosphere of these sand hills, he also – like most painters of the time – exaggerated for effect. The...
Not on display
Peasants driving Cattle and Sheep
Peasants driving Cattle and Sheep
Jan Wijnants
Jan Wijnants specialised in pictures that depicted figures moving through this particular type of rural landscape. As far was we can tell, they weren’t usually a real view, but were composed to give a pleasing effect and an impression of the countryside around the town of Haarlem, where Wijnants...
Not on display