Jacob Grimmer – View of Kiel near Antwerp, 1579

by Atelier Liesjes

From a high vantage point, the viewer looks out over a green polder towards a wide river, against which the towers and rooftops of Antwerp stand out on the horizon. To the right runs a broad sandy track with horsemen, walkers and a cart with a white canopy; at the bottom, a group of people in dark clothing stands by a low wall, with a dog beside them. To the left of centre lies a fenced-in pleasure garden with rectangular flowerbeds, trimmed hedges, rows of young trees and a low stone wall, and within it a country house with a stepped gable and a corner turret. Hovering above it all is a heavy, cloudy sky in which the sun burns a pale, pearlescent hole. In the far left-hand corner stands a carriage drawn by two horses and carrying a couple of travellers. That sky is the actual subject. The light falls in broad bands across the countryside, so that the meadows alternately glow green and sink into shadow. Grimmer uses a subtle, muted palette of grey-green, sea-green, ochre and pearl grey, with warm brown tones in the paths and buildings and the occasional splash of red near the figures. The composition is that of a world landscape: a high horizon, a deep perspective and a scene that can be read from left to right like a map. It is a landscape of ownership and perspective, painted for someone who wished to display his land and his view. Jacob Grimmer (Antwerp c. 1525 – Antwerp c. 1590) is regarded as one of the founders of the independent Flemish landscape. He worked in Antwerp, became a master of the Guild of Saint Luke there, and mainly painted villages, rivers and the changing seasons; his son Abel Grimmer continued the tradition. His work is held in Belgian and international museum collections. This expansive view of the polder, with its threatening cloudy sky, is an impressive yet tranquil work, ideal for a hall or study.