Dutch school of the late 17th century

Dutch school of the late seventeenth century.
"Country scene" and "Preparing the carriages".
Pair of oil paintings on panel.
Measurements: 21 x 33 cm each; 33 x 45,5 cm (each with frame).

In this lot composed by two paintings, we can appreciate in the first Dutch panel of the Baroque period, a lively scene that contrasts with the immemorial calm that transmit the valleys that welcome it. Remains of a Roman aqueduct covered with moss introduce a pre-Romantic note to the genre scene. The combination of both elements brings to mind the influx of Dutch painters to Italy during the 17th and 18th centuries to paint ruins and peasant environments, as did Jan Both, a painter similar to the author of the present painting. A caravan of carriages composed of knights and servants has stopped in the middle of the countryside, on its way to a city. Some peasant women offer them food. A market or rural encampment has been improvised. The foreshortened horses, the women gesticulating in groups, the food cooking on the stove, the couple of nobles in hoods eating and exchanging impressions... the whole has a singular attention to anecdotal detail, which is characteristic of the Dutch school. In the background, gentle mountains stretch out, giving the scene an atmospheric depth. The sky is partially covered by clouds and reflects a play of sifted light, characteristic of an afternoon or partly cloudy day.

As for the second panel, it offers a lively scene with numerous characters and popular images: stable boys, blacksmiths shoeing the elegant horses, riders entering and leaving the gate of the imposing medieval wall.... In the foreground, a mother feeds her child before getting into the carriage and her husband helps the blacksmiths prepare the horses. Behind them, inside an establishment, the fire of the forge burns. This is a painting of juicy anecdotes and masterful light treatment, as is typical of Dutch genre works. The warm qualities of the garments, in whose manufacture red and white stand out, contrasts with the predominance of earthy colors of the land and the houses. The prominence given to the narrative theme, combined with the atmospheric and scenic capture, recalls the scenes of caravans, stables and inns by Philips Wouwerman, from whose style the present panel is probably indebted.