Lot 1026 N α

This early painting, which was probably made during Jan Brueghel's sojourn to Italy, shows once again this artist's astonishing ability to depict an entire cosmos in miniature.

The main focus of this postcard sized copper panel is a rocky grotto beneath tall and verdant trees. The tiny hermit engrossed in his studies lends the landscape a deeper symbolic meaning in which man's inner life and the world around him are defined as two entirely separate spheres. The numerous depictions of hermits in art history all share this traditional significance, which is deeply rooted in Jewish and Christian religious thought. The people of Israel were a desert tribe, and the prophet Elijah, John and Jesus all felt compelled to withdraw into this desolate wilderness for prayer and contemplation. Later, the monastic movements were founded upon this same assumption that one is closer to God in solitude.

The background of the right half of the painting in turn represents the visible, physical world. Brueghel has depicted this as a world landscape spread out in panoramic splendor before the viewer's eyes. This classic compositional scheme, typical for Breughel's early works, is Klaus Ertz's primary reason for dating the work to pre 1600.

This previously unpublished painting formerly belonged to an old Swiss private collection. The inscription "Brueghel" to the lower right is not of the artist's hand and must thus be considered a later addition.