Valley with a River and a Town with Four Towers c. 1626 - 1627

This is Hercules Segers's "Valley with a River and a Town with Four Towers," a print of modest size, made around the early 17th century. The overall impression is one of muted tones where greens and browns dominate, creating a somewhat melancholic atmosphere. Segers masterfully uses a high vantage point to compress the landscape, almost flattening it, which challenges traditional perspective. The town with its towers becomes just another element in the textured panorama. The foreground is defined by rocky formations. These structures command the viewer’s attention, setting up a dynamic between the detailed foreground and the hazy distance. Segers’s unique approach to printing adds another layer of complexity. It is as if he’s trying to dismantle the conventional ways of seeing and representing space. The roughness of the print, combined with the unusual color palette, destabilizes the traditional landscape. Segers questions the very structure of representation, inviting us to reconsider our understanding of space and form.