Lot 1022 D α

Klaus Ertz dates this work to 1611, as Jan Brueghel is known to have painted a number of similar landscapes at that time (cf. Ertz & Nitze-Ertz, op. cit., p. 324ff) , which he dubs the "Spada group" after the first known work (Ertz, op. cit., p. 164f).
Jan Breughel manages to evoke a distant panorama. He achieves this by dispensing with obvious distinctions between fore, middle, and backgrounds, using the far horizon as a main feature of the composition. Only the looming silhouette of the windmill reaching into the sky breaks the horizon line. The fore ground is rendered in brown tones, and the mid ground is brightly lit by the light of the sun, whilst the background fades into a clear blue. The artist depicts the sun just behind the front windmill, simultaneously lending a lighter accent to the sky and accentuating the windmill structure.
Small landscape works such as this, carefully painted in vivid colours on copper, were popular collector's items and were often given as royal presentations. The placement of the figural and architectural staffage, the skilful use of colour and light, as well as the artist's total confidence in the small format all show Jan Brueghel's maturity. He was working as court painter to the Stadtholder of the Southern Netherlands at the time this work was painted.
Ertz mentions in the catalogue raisonné that the signature might be a later addition.