Landscape with Men Playing 'Mail à la Chicane' by Paul Bril

Landscape with Men Playing 'Mail à la Chicane' 1624

oil-paint, oil-on-canvas

baroque

oil-paint

landscape

figuration

oil painting

genre-painting

oil-on-canvas

realism

Paul Bril's "Landscape with Men Playing 'Mail à la Chicane'" (1624) is a quintessential example of the 17th-century Italian landscape genre. It depicts a picturesque scene of rolling hills, a winding river, and a group of men playing the popular game of "Mail à la Chicane," a predecessor to modern-day croquet. Bril's meticulous attention to detail and realistic depiction of light and shadow create a sense of depth and atmosphere. The ruins in the foreground add a touch of historical grandeur, further enhancing the painting's romantic appeal. This painting offers a glimpse into the recreational activities and daily life of the era, showcasing Bril's mastery of landscape painting and the beauty of the Italian countryside.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Paul Bril was born into a family of artists in Antwerp, now the second-largest city in Belgium. Around 1580, he moved permanently to Rome, where he worked initially as a fresco painter in the Vatican. Gradually, he shifted from the Flemish painting traditions of his homeland to more classical compositions, filled with ruins and bucolic figures and imbued with a calmer, pastoral sentiment. These idealized landscapes made him famous and profoundly influenced Claude Lorrain, a French painter who moved to Rome around the time of Bril’s death, in 1626, and became the quintessential landscape painter of his time.