Oil Painting, 'Rocky Landscape with Figures', David Teniers the younger, ca. 1660-1690

A rocky landscape traversed by a stream with two herdsman, one holding a set of bagpipes, tending sheep, swine and cattle on the bank of a river

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, 1868

Historical significance: David Teniers II (1610-1690) apprenticed with his father, David Teniers I, with whom he also collaborated. It was his genre pieces that were greatly prized by the Antwerp dealers and made him famous. He received such prestigious commissions as the large group portrait of the Arquebusiers' Company (1643; St Petersburg, Hermitage). By 1647 Teniers was working for Archduke Leopold William, Governor of the southern Netherlands. Teniers's early work is similar to that of Adriaen Brouwer, who settled in Antwerp in 1631. During the 1640s and 1650s, Teniers began to draw and paint open-air peasant fairs, generally set in front of an inn and often including a group of nobles who watch the revels with amusement. The scenes are executed in a richly varied and pastel-tinted palette. 1349-1869 appears to be a later work by Teniers, dating sometime after ca. 1660 during which period he primarily painted Arcadian landscapes and pastoral scenes with only a few figures. A smaller version of this work with the sheep and cattle omitted, was in the sale at Lempertz, Cologne, 11-2 Mar. 1938, lot 12, repr., and in the Krupp Collection, Essen.

Landscape paintings were extremely popular during the 17th century and increasingly encompassed a variety of forms and genres. Dutch painters in particular were inspired to paint nature, both their familiar surroundings as well as more exotic locales, the most popular being Italy. In the early 1600s, innovative contributions to landscape paintings were made, especially by the marine painters who concentrated on the changing effects of light according to atmospheric conditions and perspective and had a considerable impact on the appearance of landscape painting. Panoramic views also became popular in 17th-century Netherlandish art and views of the Dutch countryside developed under the influence of Jan van Goyen (1596-1656) who employed a broken brushwork technique and used a restrained monochromatic palette of earthy colours. Towards the end of the 17th century, a shift in taste is detected in favour of more academic and classical landscapes inspired by Italianate paintings and often employed as settings for mythological or historical subjects.
Genre paintings involving low class society, especially peasants, became more and more popular in the first half of the 17th century in the Netherlands. They were associated with health, liberty and pleasure that could be found in the countryside in response to the new security of the Dutch countryside following the initiation of the Twelve-Years’ Truce in 1609. The coarse appearance of Molanear’s figures recalls those of the leading figures of the Haarlem school in that field: Adriaen Brouwer (1606-1638) and Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685).

A rocky landscape traversed by a stream with two herdsman, one holding a set of bag-pipes, tending sheep, swine and cattle on the bank of a river. David Teniers II (1610-1690) apprenticed with his father, David Teniers I, with whom he also collaborated. It was his genre pieces that were greatly prized by the Antwerp dealers and made him famous. By 1647 Teniers was working for Archduke Leopold William, Governor of the southern Netherlands. Teniers's early work is similar to that of Adriaen Brouwer, who settled in Antwerp in 1631. During the 1640s and 1650s, Teniers began to draw and paint open-air peasant fairs, generally set in front of an inn and often including a group of nobles who watch the revels with amusement. The scenes are executed in a richly varied and pastel-tinted palette. 1349-1869 appears to be a later work by Teniers, dating sometime after ca. 1660 during which period he primarily painted Arcadian landscapes and pastoral scenes with only a few figures.

1349-1869