Landscape with a town in the background, in the right foreground a group of pigs watched by a parent and child
Maker
(artist)
c. 1566-1603
Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1525-1569
c. 1566-1603
Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1525-1569
Title
Landscape with a town in the background, in the right foreground a group of pigs watched by a parent and child
Date of Production
1590-1600
Medium
traces of black chalk (visible under microscope), pen and brown ink on laid paper, with brown ink framing lines largely trimmed away
Dimensions
Height: 14.5 cm
Width: 19 cm
Width: 19 cm
Accession Number
D.1978.PG.316
Mode of Acquisition
Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
A swineherd surveys his livestock on a hill overlooking a town. Jacob Savery uses delicate modelling to describe the surrounding northern European countryside. Such landscapes by Jacob were once considered part of a consistent group representing Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s style in the 1560s. However, in 1986, around twenty-five of these were shown to be forgeries made two decades after Bruegel’s death. The quantity produced is demonstrative of a lucrative enterprise.
Provenance
sale at Hôtel Drouot (Paris), 1874; acquired there by a friend of Dr E.S., Aveyron, France and given to him, and still with him in 1950 [according to Michel 1950, p. 121]; Otto Wertheimer, Galerie les Tourettes (Paris); acquired there by Count Antoine Seilern (1901-1978), April 1955; Princes Gate Bequest 1978
Exhibition History
Drawings Gallery Display - Bruegel / Not Bruegel, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 16/01/2016-17/04/2016
Literature
Mielke, Hans, Pieter Bruegel: die Zeichnungen, Turnhout 1996
no. A 31 on p. 81
as Jacob Savery; in file
Seilern, Count Antoine, Flemish paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW7. Addenda, London 1969; IV
no. 316
pl. XXIX
as Bruegel, dated 1560; in file
Münz, Ludwig, Bruegel: the drawings, London 1961
no. 34 on p. 212 and p. 18
pl. 33 ...More
de Tolnay, Charles, The drawings of Pieter Bruegel the elder: with a critical catalogue, London 1952
Addenda no. 3 on p. 95
Michel, Edouard, 'Un dessin inédit de Pierre Bruegel le Vieux' [or 'Bruegel et la Critique moderne?] in 'Gazette des Beaux-Arts', 1950; XXXVII
pp. 121-24
fig. 1
The whole article is about this drawing, which Michel says he studied while in the collection of a Dr E.S. from Aveyron, who had acquired the drawing through a friend at the Hotel Drouot sale in 1874. He agrees unreservedly with the Bruegel attribution. ...Less
no. A 31 on p. 81
as Jacob Savery; in file
Seilern, Count Antoine, Flemish paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW7. Addenda, London 1969; IV
no. 316
pl. XXIX
as Bruegel, dated 1560; in file
Münz, Ludwig, Bruegel: the drawings, London 1961
no. 34 on p. 212 and p. 18
pl. 33 ...More
de Tolnay, Charles, The drawings of Pieter Bruegel the elder: with a critical catalogue, London 1952
Addenda no. 3 on p. 95
Michel, Edouard, 'Un dessin inédit de Pierre Bruegel le Vieux' [or 'Bruegel et la Critique moderne?] in 'Gazette des Beaux-Arts', 1950; XXXVII
pp. 121-24
fig. 1
The whole article is about this drawing, which Michel says he studied while in the collection of a Dr E.S. from Aveyron, who had acquired the drawing through a friend at the Hotel Drouot sale in 1874. He agrees unreservedly with the Bruegel attribution. ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: Recto, upper left corner, fragment: lower half of an eagle holding a shield (matches Briquet 6164 - Traburg 1590; per Spicer 1970, this paper was produced in Salzburg, possibly by Jacques Sichelschmied, active by 1568, and occurs on backing sheets for Bruegel drawings as well as on 2 drawings in Besancon thought to be by Roelandt Savery).
Inscription: Recto: lower right corner, brown ink, false signature and date (same on PG.12): "P.BRVEGEL 1560".
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Recto: lower right corner, brown ink, false signature and date (same on PG.12): "P.BRVEGEL 1560".
Collector's mark: none.
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