Landscape with Packhorses

Landscape painting became a major branch of painting in 17th century Holland, initially promoted (16th century) through Flemish studio paintings, relying mainly on the imagination. Based on sketches from nature, Dutch landscapes are dominated by flat horizons, overcast by huge cloudy formations, typical of the climate of this realm. Its favourite subjects are sand dunes, rivers bordered by narrow banks with grazing cattle, more or less elaborate shipping scenes, with a distant cityscape often in the background. A certain timeless sense of hard work and struggling existence slows down the visual dynamics of these two paintings. They seem to speak of the silent perseverance of collective effort, in the spirit of the Dutch proverb God created the earth, the Dutch created Holland. ©Dana Roxana Hrib, European Art Gallery Guidebook, Second edition, Sibiu 2011.