Green and brown toned landscape of hills and houses.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Unable to open [object Object]: HTTP 0 attempting to load TileSource: https://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/iiif/48525552/info.json
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

On the side of a tan-toned hill are tall green trees and several small, beige houses with pointed black tops and chimneys. Two are in the foreground at the right, and a few more stand in the background to the left. In the front left corner is a pond with a small wooden structure next to it. In the background to the right is a large green pasture with grazing livestock and another pond. In the distance, we see a large, faint city on the horizon. In the sky above the scene, golden light filters through the clouds.

Gallery Text

Grimmer, a contemporary of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, was renowned as a landscape painter. In this early work — the first dated by the artist — the distant view at the right recalls the imaginary, composite panoramas typical of Netherlandish landscapes of the first half of the sixteenth century. Grimmer broke with that tradition, however, and developed a more naturalistic approach, introducing the kind of intimate depiction of the Flemish countryside seen in the foreground of this picture.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1992.58
People
Jacob Grimmer, Flemish (c. 1525 - 1590)
Title
Landscape with Cottages
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1561
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Netherlands
Culture
Flemish
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/227279

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2540, European Art, 13th–16th century, The Renaissance
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
59.3 x 98.6 cm (23 3/8 x 38 13/16 in.)
frame: 84.7 x 123.5 x 10 cm (33 3/8 x 48 5/8 x 3 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.l.: GR 1561
  • inscription: on back of frame, in black paint: 6048

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Melvin R. Seiden Purchase Fund in honor of William W. Robinson
Accession Year
1992
Object Number
1992.58
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

  • James Cuno, ed., A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions by the Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, Mass., Spring 2000), p. 44, repr.

Exhibition History

  • Northern Renaissance Art: Selected Works, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 02/28/1984 - 04/08/1984
  • 32Q: 2540 Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu