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Winter Landscape
(Baroque Europe )
The cycle of the seasons fascinated 17th-century Europeans, but the shifts in the tilt of the earth that causes them were not understood. Winter was especially hard then; Europe was in the middle of a little ice age and it was much colder than today. The Southern Netherlands was also in the midst of a war, and ill-paid soldiers terrorized the peasants.
Here, the Antwerp landscapist Joos de Momper uses subdued color and tonal unity to suggest the bleakness of a late winter afternoon, complemented by an intricate, stark pattern of barren branches against the sky. Landscape was a popular subject in antwerp in these years. De Momper's works are characterized by this moody, tonal quality rather than by attention to lush vegetation.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1981-1982 | New Light on Old Pictures: Dutch and Flemish Paintings from the Walters. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| Examination | examined for condition | |
| 1/12/1952 | Treatment | coated; surface cleaned; varnish removed or reduced |
| 11/9/1979 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 3/21/1980 | Treatment | cleaned; coated; inpainted; loss compensation; varnish removed or reduced |
| 6/18/1980 | Examination | examined for technical study |
| 6/18/1980 | Treatment | examined for technical study |
| 6/18/1980 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 5/4/1990 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 11/1/1990 | Treatment | coated; examined for exhibition; lined |
| 11/24/1992 | Examination | examined for condition |
Geographies
Belgium, Antwerp (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 17 5/8 x W: 26 in. (44.7 x 66 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.363