Provenance:
• Montgomery Family, probably since the 19th century at Stobo Castle, Peebleshire, then Kinross House, ca. 1902;
• private collection.
Choosing a round panel of an altogether...
read moreProvenance:
• Montgomery Family, probably since the 19th century at Stobo Castle, Peebleshire, then Kinross House, ca. 1902;
• private collection.
Choosing a round panel of an altogether exceptional size, Jacob Grimmer provides us here with one of his most brilliant portrayals of the seasons. Very similar to the version kept at the Dayton Art Institute in the United States, our Spring transports the art-lover right into the middle of a country landscape, where peasants and shepherds are busy sowing and driving their herds, while the men and women of fashion invite us to relax in their company.
This delightful panel is spread over three planes. In the first one, six couples of a significant size, dressed in rich outfits, are enjoying themselves to the sound of a guitar held by a musician who, astonishingly, has his back to the viewer. Some are lying in the grass while others execute a few dance steps. Jacob Grimmer’s works often feature groups of characters placed in couples. In bigger paintings, such as the View of the Scheldt exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, it is common to find duos in the first two planes.
Bucolic scenes, bases on the tradition of Flemish rural landscapes, fill the middle plane. On the left-hand side, peasants are busy tending to the vegetable garden. The painting undoubtedly bears resemblance to “Spring” by Pieter Brueghel: while some
characters are raking or hoeing, others are sowing or climbing on the supports for the young plants that are being formed into an arbour. The Museum of Budapest owns a version in which Jacob Grimmer depicts this walled garden in a very similar way. Next to the garden, cattle are grazing close to a cowshed while their cowherd dozes under a tree. Finally, on the right, is a magnificent manorial residence surrounded by water. The Kunsthorisches Museum in Vienna houses a small painting illustrating the same type of manor, with its very particular tower.
In the distance, an evanescent landscape opens onto a town with a harbour, nestling in the foothills of the mountains. The sheen of the sky reflected in the river creates a pool of light in the background. Three signs of the zodiac can be seen in the sky thus specifying the period of the year featured in the painting: Aries, Taurus and Gemini, all three signs of Spring.
A masterpiece in delicateness and charm, this portrayal of Spring benefits from exceptional glazing effects. The tastefully chosen colours evoke the mild weather after the harsh winter. Velvet and silk clothes are enriched with a variety of colours: saffron yellow, delicate pink, sky blue and dark red. The tender greens that illuminate the vast meadow surrounding the domain, as well as the small white flowers that have just blossomed in the foreground, plunge us into a gentle, luxuriant atmosphere. The richness of the colours, the precise strokes and the solidity of the painting, seal this ode to the return of fine weather in perfect harmony.
Around 1526 – Antwerp – 1589
Jacob Grimmer, a contemporary of Pieter Brueghel I, was born in Antwerp circa 1526. He did his apprenticeship here in 1539, studying under Gabriel Bauwens, Mathys Cock...
read moreAround 1526 – Antwerp – 1589
Jacob Grimmer, a contemporary of Pieter Brueghel I, was born in Antwerp circa 1526. He did his apprenticeship here in 1539, studying under Gabriel Bauwens, Mathys Cock and Cerstian van den Queckborn. He became a free master in 1547, married in 1548 and had four children. He most probably travelled to Italy as was the norm for young painters.
His work marked a major turning point in the development of 16th century Flemish landscape painting. His interpretation of landscape, inspired by the views of the areas surrounding Antwerp, and the rural scenes he includes within, demonstrates a new conception of an exceptional maturity.
Simplified, plain landscapes, which made their appearance towards the middle of the century, were largely his invention. The fantastic panoramas, whimsically-shaped gigantic rocks and natural undulations still dear to Lucas Gassel, were abandoned in favour of a simplicity and authenticity never achieved before. Colours also became more real, with a constant desire to portray well-constructed, atmospheric values according to the coherence of all the details, in an effort to respect the unity of the composition.
He often liked to fill his landscapes with characters and small anecdotal scenes with the same spontaneity and the same naturalist vision, rather than giving a fatalistic explanation of things as Pieter Brueghel would have done. Marten van Cleve and Gillis Mostaert collaborated with him. He had a great influence and inspired numerous painters such as his son Abel, as well as Gillis van Coninxloo, Jan Brueghel II and Jan Wildens.
