Gillis van Coninxloo II (Antwerp 1544-1606/07 Amsterdam)

Drawings by van Coninxloo, who played a prominent role in the development of Netherlandish landscape art, are rare. The technique of the present drawing, a combination of precise penwork with lines of great freedom, is typical of the artist's draughtsmanship. The composition of the drawing, with a dark repoussoir at the left, set against a more delicately rendered background, can be found in many of van Coninxloo's drawings. There is a very comparable drawing in the de Grez Collection in the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (inv. 4060/924; Wegner, op. cit., p. 208, note 27), especially in its treatment of shading. Based on the date of the drawing in the de Grez collection, it has been suggested that the present drawing was executed around 1590-1600 (Giltaij, op. cit., no. 41).