Landschap met rechts een rivier 1653 - 1665

Ignatius van der Stock created this landscape with a river to the right, using etching techniques, sometime between 1660 and 1760. The formal arrangement here directs your eye through a carefully constructed space. The composition, dominated by a prominent tree, uses line and form to create depth and texture. Notice how the trees are not merely representations of nature but function as structural elements within the artwork. Van der Stock uses hatching and cross-hatching to model the forms and create a sense of volume and space. It also serves to reflect broader artistic concerns of the period, such as a fascination with naturalism and the picturesque, seen through a lens of structured composition. This engraving employs the semiotic system of landscape conventions to signal tranquility and perhaps a sense of the sublime. The artist seems to challenge conventional depictions of nature by emphasizing the constructed aspects of the scene. Ultimately, the delicate balance and formal restraint invite us to appreciate the artist’s control over the medium and their ability to transform a landscape into a carefully structured and aesthetically pleasing composition.