In a wooded landscape, several figures, one riding a white horse, are represented: they are apparently occupied with the hunt. High trees, functioning like coulisses, close off the composition on the left and on the right, while in the middle a view is given towards a sandy, slightly slanting landscape with a few rustic farmhouses. This little panel carried an attribution to a follower of the landscape specialist Gillis II van Coninxloo (1544–1607), the most famous member of a large family of artists and acclaimed for his forest views.1 However, this work is not related to van Coninxloo and the landscape tradition he helped to start. With its extensive view towards a distant horizon in the middle and framed by high groves, the painting reveals the influence of the Brussels school of landscape painting, which began with Lodewijk de Vadder (1605-1655) and Jacques d’Arthois (1613- 1686) and had other prominent representatives in Lucas Achtschellinck (1626-1699) and Ignace van der Stock (c. 1635 – after 1665).2 This painting can be dated to around 1640-1670.
[Info]