Herman Saftleven Lot n° 12

"Bij De Seven Bergen" (In the Seven Mountains). Oil on copper. (1650s or early 1660s). 31.5 x 39 cm. Monogrammed lower center on the stone. Framed. The present high-quality and excellently preserved landscape is a discovery not yet known to Wolfgang Schulz, the author of the monograph on H. Saftleven. It comes now after decades in a Rhenish private collection, for the first time on the market again. From an imaginary height the view goes over a cultivated landscape with busy raftsmen and workers at a ship landing place down to a river course which extends in windings into the depth. Along the wooded banks, individual houses and castles can be seen, while a mountain massif seals off the view to the rear. Green-blue tones over an olive-green-brown ground create an effect familiar to us from the works of Jan Breughel the Elder, two generations older, and Josse de Mompers. There is a topographical reference: on the reverse of the panel is an inscription, probably by the artist himself: bij de seven bergen. This refers to the Siebengebirge on the right bank of the Rhine, a low mountain range to the south-east of Bonn, which consists of more than 50 mountains and hills and stretches between Königswinter and Bad Honnef. In the outer right mountain one recognizes the Drachenfels with the castle ruin of the same name on the summit, whose outer works had been razed in 1634. Saftleven presents a real landscape to be classified geographically, but while the course of the river with landing stage, boatmen and half-timbered house on the right is probably reproduced largely realistically, the mountains are shown exaggerated. So Saftleven exaggerates. The question arises whether the collectors in the 17th century actually already perceived Saftleven's Rhine landscapes as views of the Rhine or whether a fantasy type was desired here by tacit agreement. Herman Saftleven had specialized in painting river valleys with steep mountain ranges. He was a master of the small form. His atmospheric small-format Rhine landscapes with a multitude of narrative details were highly regarded by his contemporaries. The painter came from a family of artists based in Rotterdam, his father Herman the Elder and his brother Cornelis were also painters. On one or more journeys he had become acquainted with the Rhine and its side valleys and made sketches there, from which he was to draw for the rest of his life. Around 1632 he had moved to the larger city of Utrecht, which at that time, along with Amsterdam and Haarlem, was one of the most flourishing art centres in the Dutch provinces and offered better market opportunities. Here he soon rose to become the leading painter of Rhine landscapes and in 1657 was appointed dean of the local Guild of St. Luke. Saftleven's œuvre comprises about 300 paintings, including about 30 copper plates. These miniature-like luminous small plates were created from about 1652 and are among the most sought-after works in his œuvre. Since he worked very carefully, most of these copper plates are still in an excellent state of preservation today. We would like to thank Dr. Fred Meijer, Amsterdam, for kindly confirming the authenticity based on a digital photograph and providing valuable advice on cataloguing (email of 14.12.2018). Provenance: private collection for decades, Rhineland. Taxation: Differentially taxed (VAT: Margin Scheme).