Wooded Landscape with Figures c. 1605 - 1610

Jan Brueghel the Elder painted this small landscape on copper, an unusual support, sometime around 1600. The figures on the road offer us a glimpse into the painter’s world. Brueghel was working in the Spanish Netherlands, a prosperous region with a complex class system and a strong mercantile culture. His paintings often feature the lives of peasants but with a strong sense of idealization. The elevated viewpoint and atmospheric perspective lend a sense of harmony. This countered the impact of the iconoclasm which had devastated sacred art in the region a few decades before. The painting suggests a desire for stability after religious conflict and the hardships of daily life. It’s a view of the countryside as a place of simple pleasures. Art historians look at estate records, travel writing, and religious pamphlets from the time to understand these images better. We can then understand the appeal of such images as a form of conservative social commentary.