Unknown maker, Flemish, 16th century A high horizon line provides a bird's-eye view into a vast, lush valley filled with moist air, and gradations of tone and atmospheric
perspective define distance. The painting smoothly draws the viewer into the landscape, following an S-shaped journey beginning with the mythological figures at the lower right, continuing on the road at left, and winding back into the distant harbor below.
The narrative story in the lower right corner takes place without much fanfare: the mythological figures simply have equal status as compositional elements with the trees and cliffs. Mercury, the standing figure, lulls the seated Argus to sleep with his flute, thus leaving the beautiful white cow--a transformation of the
nymph Io--unguarded.
This artist was not chiefly interested in the myth, but he or she needed an excuse for painting a landscape. Artists of the 1500s usually presented their landscapes as settings for myths or Biblical stories. Despite the burgeoning market for pictures featuring landscapes, landscape was not yet considered an independent subject.
High Quality Wood Framed Print using museum quality paper and archival inks with a white border or with cut mat for a contemporary look. Comes with Acrylite glazing and hanging hardware. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.
Stretched Canvas is stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed on heavy cotton poly matte finish canvas. Comes with mounting brackets. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.
Giclee Prints are printed on 260gsm satin finish using the finest archival inks. Each print carries a white border around the perimeter. The listed size refers to the overall paper dimensions. The image is printed proportionally within this paper size and includes a small white border. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.
All of our images are digitized from the original or negative.
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Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea.
