A Landscape with a Dead Tree, and a Peasant driving Oxen and Sheep along a Road

Artist: Jan Wijnants (Dutch, 1635 - 1684)

Original Dimensions: 31 1/2" x 39 1/8"

Location: National Gallery of Art, London

About Artwork: (1659) "Jan Wijnants was from Haarlem, which lies in the narrow corridor of land between Amsterdam and the sea. He specialised in depicting the landscapes around the town, which were formed largely of sand blown inland from the North Sea beaches and into a series of sometimes spectacularly high dunes. So while this might look like a rocky landscape with a range of hills or mountains that catch the sunlight on the horizon, they are, in fact, ancient sand hills, now overgrown. No specific location can be identified as a model for this painting, and – like many landscapes of the time – it probably represents an idealised rather than real view. The figures and animals are an important addition, helping the viewer to establish a sense of scale and depth, and also adding interest and dynamism to the scene. They were not painted by Wijnants but by a collaborator, the specialist figure painter Jan Lingelbach." - (National Gallery of Art, London)