Going after the Master of the Mountain Landscapes

There is a lot of mysteries in the history of art. We can solve some of them with modern technologies like X-ray but others are doomed to be with us forever. And sometimes we even don´t know there is a mystery until someone brings it to the light. Our today story is from latest category and we will probably never be able to solve it.



A fine collection of 12 prints designed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder etched and engraved by Johannes and Lucas van Doetecum and published by Hieronymus Cock in 1555 or 1556 has been inspiring generations of artists since the 16th century. The collection is called "The Large Landscapes" and depicts dramatic views of Alpine landscapes as well as the peaceful Netherlandish countryside. The dimension of each printing plate is about 30 x 45 cm - hence the name "the large". These prints were huge compared to the others in the middle of 16th century.

Fig 1. Alpine Landscape with a Deep Valley from the series The Large Landscapes. Drawn by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and etched by van Doetecum brothers. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For full size click here.

Prints are incredibly detailed. Van Doetecum brothers had developed a special etching technique which closely resemble of a copper engraving but requires just a fraction of time and effort.(1) There is a debate whether Bruegel designed all the prints or some are designed by van Doetecum brothers or Hieronymus Cock. Two of the prints, The rest on the Flight into Egypt and The Rustic Market, show a different style - the landscape is not as dramatic, trees and figures are thinner. It is said that this two prints might be added by the etchers to complete the series of twelve.(2) But this is not a mystery we want to talk about today.

Fig 2. Trees of The Large Landscapes: A. Alpine Landscape with a Deep Valley, B. Saint Jerome in the Wilderness, C. Flight into Egypt, D. Rustic Market. First two trees are from prints designed by Bruegel, second two are from disputed plates. All artworks are stored in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For full-size of this image click here.

To understand issues we are to face, basic knowledge of printmaking process is needed. Every etching and engraving need a preparation drawing which is made by an artist. The drawing is passed to an etching or engraving artist, who make the printing plate. The plate is passed to a printer who prints it. That´s how it is made.

Fig. 3. Print and preparation drawing, note that print and drawing are mirrored. A. Landscape with Pilgrims at Emmaus from The Large Landscapes, Metropolitan Museum of Art, B. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Landscape with Pilgrims (enhanced view*), one of two surviving preparation drawings for the series. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerpen. For full-size of this image click here.

The whole history of The Large Landscapes is not clear, and it´s no wonder - more than 450 years has passed since the prints were made. We have only two of the preparation drawings for The Large Landscapes surviving to these days.(3) But there is series of drawings of alpine landscapes in museums and private collections across Europe and USA, which were considered the sketches for the prints. It is known that Bruegel visited Italy and while he travelled through the Alps and he fell in love with a dramatic landscape which doesn´t remind of anything he could have seen in the Netherlands. It was thought that Bruegel drew these sketches right in the Alps or during his stay in Italy. Luckily the alpine sketch-drawings shows some features seen on the final prints and based on the style of drawing materials used, they could be dated back to 16th century.

Fig. 4. One of the alpine landscapes drawings. The Courtauld Institute of Art. Full size here.

So it easy like this: Bruegel went on the trip to Italy. On his way, he drew some sketches of a landscape he had seen. After he returned to the Netherlands he made a deal with Hieronymus Cock, drew preparation drawings, which are today lost (except ones in Louvre and one Antwerp). Van Doetecum brothers made etchings based on these drawings, plates were printed, end of story.

Fig. 5. One of the features shared by print and drawing. Note that motive in the print is oriented the same direction as in the drawing. A. The Crafty Bird-Catcher from The Large Landscapes, Metropolitan Museum of Art, B. Landscape with Two Mules, Courtauld Institute of Art. For the full size of this image click here.

In fact, there were some troubles. Many motives on the sketch-drawings are oriented to the same direction as in prints. It`s common that sketches and preparation drawings are mirror images of prints. It might seem that drawings were made after the prints. Some of the drawings were deattributed from Bruegel by scholars in past because of the inconsistency of style and various other reasons. However, evidence wasn't strong and a prevalent opinion still favoured Pieter Bruegel as an author.

Fig. 6. Broad Mountain Range (enhanced). One of the series of alpine drawings. Staatliche Kunstsammelung Dresden. Full size here.

Finally, in 1991 Hans Mielke has written a six pages article for the Yearbook of Berlin Museums(4) in which he took away all these alpine drawings from Bruegel. In his expertise, he had found a watermark with lily and initials WR on two of these drawings, namely on Broad Mountain Range (5) and Landscape with a Village, River and Castle (6).The second one is a large and highly finished drawing showing an epic landscape which was considered the most accomplished of a group of mountain landscapes thought to have been executed by him (Bruegel) after a sojourn through the Alps (7). The watermark was a sign of a paper mill and we know that paper with this watermark first appeared in 1585 or 1588. That is sixteen, respectively twenty years after Bruegel`s death and more than 30 years after The Large Landscapes were printed. It has became obvious that Bruegel is not an author of these two drawings and after further investigation, the whole set of about twenty alpine drawings was taken away from Bruegel.

Fig. 7. Drawing of the watermark with Lilly and WR monogram by Hans Mielke. Source.

That was quite shocking because we based our image of whole Bruegel`s drawing style on those drawings. The deattributed works all have certain statuesque monumentality and a reserved character that now seem atypical for Bruegel as well as unusual for drawings produced in the mid-sixteenth century. They also share sharp, thin and controlled pen work that describes the contours of mountains and parallel hatching, which differ from relatively thick, minutely wavering lines characteristic of Bruegel`s accepted drawings. (8) After deattribution the whole conception of Bruegel drawing style has changed.

Fig. 8. Mountain Landscape with a River, Village and Castle (enhanced). The Morgan Library & Museum. Source.

Now you might ask: "Well, who drew it?" And we have a simply answer: Nobody knows. The names often mentioned are Roeland Savery and his brother Jacob, but most of the scholars agree that further research is needed to reattribute those drawings to anyone. And because of this uncertainty drawings are now listed as made by anonymous Master of the Mountains Landscapes. He was active in the second half of 16th or at the beginning of 17th century somewhere in the Lower lands and was a skilled drawer. It is quite unlike that there aren`t other drawings or paintings made by him. It is also possible that drawings were made by young learning artist, who was given Bruegel`s prints and his task was to reproduce them.

Fig. 9. Jacob I. Savery: Landscape with Two Peasants and a Dog (enhanced). Courtauld Institute of Art. The drawing style of Savery`s drawings resembles somehow to the style of Master of Mountain Landscapes. Fullsize here.

Since we cannot travel in time it would be long and hard work to find out who drew this iconic set of landscapes. But on the second hand maybe the authorship is just overvalued concept we tend to because of modern branding. There`s a name tag on everything. We love brands even in art and Warhol is the better brand than Kabakov - everyone knows it. Bruegel is better to tag than Anonymous artist active in the second half of the 16th century. Master of Mountain Landscapes gives us an opportunity to view artwork as it is - without tags, names and prejudices. Just a monumental landscape. We are not suggesting that we should put down all the name tags in galleries, but rather rethink the value we give to the artist`s name.

As a tribute to this artist, we decided to make a reproduction of one of his drawings. Our first though was to make probably most iconic Landscape with a River, Village and Castle, but after a short reflection, we made a different drawing, Landscape with an Artist Sketching. Master of Mountain Landscaped depicts here an unknown artist who share his passion for the landscape drawing. We felt a strong connection between Master and that tiny figure.

Fig. 10. Master of Mountain Landscapes: Landscape with an Artist Sketching. Courtauld Institute of Art. Source.

Fig. 11. Landscape with an Artist Sketching, Art After. Fullsize here.

We have started our new Etsy shop this weekend where you could find this drawing among few others. We have a lot of plans in the near future, but we are both working full-time as teachers, so getting the time for Art After is sometimes a serious struggle. Nevertheless, there`s a lot ahead of us - new drawings, new blog - this time hopefully about symbolics in work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder or long planned recipe for bistre ink.

We hope you enjoy our writing so far, we are doing our best to improve. Every tip, comment or note is very welcomed. If you want to support us, visit our Etsy shop, like our facebook page, or follow our Instagram @art_after. 

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The title image is A view of a walled medieval town above a wooded riverbank by Master of Mountain Landscapes (enhanced). Source.

* Some of the images in this post are marked as enhanced - it means that they are brightened and their contrast was raised in order to make them easier to perceive. A computer screen displays the old drawings in the way that differs from the direct visual experience. We try to eliminate this by enhancing images.  

1 http://www.hollstein.com/new-dutch/the-van-doetecum-family-part-i.html 

2 Orenstein, N.: Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001, p. 133.
3 http://arts-graphiques.louvre.fr/detail/oeuvres/6/110953-Grand-paysage-alpestre-max
   http://www.kmska.be/nl/collectie/catalogus/ 
4 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4125879 (in german, require registration)
5 http://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/de/contents/showArtist?id=891073#longDescription
6 http://www.themorgan.org/drawings/item/144143
7 http://corsair.themorgan.org/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=144143
8 Orenstein, N.: Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001, p. 266.