Landschaft mit dem Propheten Elisa 1589

Hans Bol made this landscape drawing with pen and brown ink sometime in the late 16th century. The scene depicts an Old Testament story in a detailed landscape and its visual strategies tell us much about the cultural values of its time. Flemish landscapes of this period often combined close observation of nature with biblical or mythological scenes. Bol’s landscape, with its expansive view and carefully observed details, reflects the growing interest in naturalism during the Renaissance. However, by including the Prophet Elisha cursing the children, the drawing integrates religious narrative with naturalistic landscape. This combination reflects the cultural and religious climate of the 16th-century Netherlands, a time marked by religious upheaval and the rise of Protestantism. Artists like Bol navigated these tensions by embedding biblical stories in seemingly secular landscapes. Understanding Bol's landscape requires attention to the social and religious context in which it was produced, which can be done by consulting historical texts and studies of Netherlandish art and culture. The meaning of art is contingent on social and institutional context.