Lot 1030 Dα

This finely painted and well preserved work on copper is a highly characteristic example of Roelant Savery's work. The artist was in the service of Emperor Rudolf II for almost 10 years, and travelled at his request throughout the entirety of his realm, which spanned from Bohemia to Tyrol and Trieste. The sights he encountered during his travels - landscapes, peasants, shepherds, woodsmen and animals - were all incorporated into his charming and unmistakeable catalogue of motifs. Typical of his compositions is the Brueghelesque manner of dividing the landscape into a shadowy foreground and a gradually brighter background. The present work is dated 1609 and was painted during the later period of his stay in Prague.