Esaias van de Velde (Amsterdam 1587-1630 The Hague)

Hitherto unpublished, this is a fine example of the artist's imaginary landscapes and one of the most overtly classical in character. The central motif of the broken fluted column surmounting a carved pedestal is likely to have been borrowed from a print although the source is as yet unidentified. Classical architectural elements were occasionally included into Esaias' landscapes, another example being the ruined basilica in the background of the Meeting of Philip and the Eunuch (whereabouts unknown; G. Keyes, Esaias van de Velde, Groningen, 1984, no. 10, fig. 120), but the prominence given to the fountain in the present work is rather exceptional. The elegance of the figure types and the rendering of the couple on horseback reveal the influence of Sebastiaen Vrancx whose work Esaias is known to have admired. Staffage of this kind seems to appear with regularity in Esaias' output from circa 1615-20, for example, the Riders on a Path, of 1619, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Besancon; Keyes, loc. cit., no. 110, fig. 82). The motif of the horseman at the trough recurs in a small panel (23.5 x 23.5 cm.; possibly a fragment from a picture of this format), formerly with Galerie Daniël Vanhove, Brussels.