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Forest Landscape with a Distant Castle (Main View)

Denis van Alsloot

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

This tranquil landscape with buildings in the distance is a symphony of varied lines enhanced by a delicate use of wash. Denys van Alsloot's fragile line ranges from the elegant curves of the tree trunks to squiggles suggesting leaves to almost dotlike notations for the grasses in the marsh at the center. Alsloot, official painter to the Brussels court, often created imaginary scenes like this one, including castles and abbeys seen in the nearby forest of Soignes.

A central clump of trees clearly divides the scene; at right, trees surround a path, and to the left a river meanders through rocks and mountains, stretching into a panoramic view. At least two of Alsloot's paintings show the same composition in mirror image.

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  • Title: Forest Landscape with a Distant Castle (Main View)
  • Creator: Denys van Alsloot
  • Date Created: 1608
  • Location Created: Netherlands
  • Physical Dimensions: 20.3 × 27.6 cm (8 × 10 7/8 in.)
  • Type: Drawing
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink and brush and brown and blue-gray wash
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 86.GA.9
  • Culture: Flemish
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Creator Display Name: Denys van Alsloot (Flemish, 1570 - 1628)
  • Classification: Drawings (Visual Works)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

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