Not a particularly inspired title for such a uniquely glorious painting. There's little more appealing than standing before this masterpiece at the National Gallery and being plunged into the honeyed glow of late afternoon light and enjoying the peace of the rural idyll.
Painted in the late 1650's by the master of landscape in the Italiante Style of Dutch Golden Age painting, Aelbert Cuyp. Cuyp lived and practiced exclusively in Dordrecht in the new Dutch Rebpulic, established in 1581 amidst the 80 years war.
Prior to this the Netherlands, literally meaning low lying countries, were under the strictly Catholic rule of Charles V of Spain. Becoming restless with Spanish rule, war broke out between those seeking Dutch independence and the Spanish in 1568. At this time, 17 provinces made up the Netherlands. The first two to be captured by the seafaring Guezen leading the rebellion were Holland and Zeeland. The countries rapidly converted to Calvinism, a branch of Protestantism that teaches truth from the word of the Bible. Thanks to advances in printing technology and the Protestant reformation, ripple could easily access printed Bibles and read for themselves the truth. Churches did away with gilt alter pieces and gaudy church interiors to provide vast, stark interiors for congregations to read and worship.
The desire for independence grew and in 1579 the Union of Utrecht was signed: seven provinces in the north were united by the word, the word they would fight for their cause and the word of God under new rule and new religion.
In 1581 the Dutch Republic was fully established, with independence fully granted by the Spanish in 1648 under Philip III of Spain.
The new Dutch Republic boomed. The Golden Age of the 17th century is a name well deserved, whilst their churches may have done away with all that glittered, trade, the military, seafaring, science, literature and art were indeed, golden. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company was established which quickly became the world first global company. People were out-posted to India and Indonesia to establish trade there. The country was trading goods, art, spices and textiles with the east and was very profitable, making it one if the richest countries in the world at this time.
This is the world that in 1620 Cuyp was born in to: fiercely independent, devoutly Calvinistic and horribly self-assured. For the painter, new opportunities were abundant. With the Church no longer acting as patron, it was the new merchant, aristocratic middle classes who wanted paintings; paintings of their wonderful, successful everyday life.
Cuyp's father Jacob Gerritz, was a portraitist and his work reflects the patrons one could expect working as an artist. Although Aelbert Cuyp is best know for landscapes, his interest in portraying human life probably comes from his father. In River Landscape with Horsemen and Peasants, for example, although it is clearly a landscape, the foreground is rich in details of 17th century Dutch life: the social types of aristocratic horseman and shepherd; the breeds of cow one can trade in; the joy of the hunt and hunting game and being out of doors enjoying the day.
Cuyp's most influential acquaintance was undoubtedly Jan Both. Whilst Cuyp never travelled to Italy, he carefully studied the worth of Both who had worked in Rome under Claude. Cuyp's depiction of the Italianate landscape comes from his careful observation of Both's work. For his distinct use of light, he is vicariously indebted to Claude through Both's paintings. River Landscape is typical of this style that Cuyp adopted. The scene is certainly fictional; the low lying Netherlands he saw simply do not have mountain ranges. The way the light is painted makes the painting radiate the amber heat Cuyp has captured. His minutely accurate and expertly executed brushwork on the bracken in the foreground ensures the light source illuminates the whole picture. This also cleverly pushes the mountain village into the far distance, allowing him to achieve an exciting level of depth in the painting.
In 1658 Cuyp married a wealthy Dordrecht widow and strict Calvinist, Cornelian Bosman. Shortly after their marriage Cuyp became a Deacon of the Reformed Church and the number of paintings he produced rapidly plunges after this date. River Landscape is one such painting from this period, where his patrons were almost certainly wealthy members of his congregation, buying for their large townhouses. Certainly the sheer size of this painting- the largest known of Cuyp's work- suggests that is the case.
The painting was the first of Cuyp's to be bought in England, by the 3rd Earl of Bute before being bought for the nation in 1989.
