Core Record

Joos de Momper (1564-1634/5) was taught by his father Bartholomeus at Antwerp, where he remained intermittently, throughout his life. De Momper occupies a significant place in the development of the Netherlandish landscape tradition: his compositions form a link between the imaginary landscapes of the sixteenth century and the naturalistic landscapes of the seventeenth century. A successful artist, by 1590 de Momper was being patronised by the Hapsburg Regents of the Spanish Netherlands based in Brussels. De Momper's large landscapes adapt and enlarge the innovations introduced by Pieter Bruegel the elder and his sons. Sensitive to the scale of nature, de Momper mastered aerial perspective to give his imaginary scenes an increased sense of depth.

The de Momper Landscape in the Southampton collection is an unusually large example of the painter's work, it has been suggested that it may have been made to be displayed like a tapestry high over the wainscot in the large rooms of a merchant's house. The scene has been tentatively identified as representing Summer, suggesting it may once have been part of a set of four seasons. The realism with which the small houses arranged along the roads and river in the foreground of the picture are painted, is in striking contrast with style adopted for the peaked mountain and open plains painted in bright shades of green, blue and yellow that fill the background. The figures in de Momper's pictures were usually painted by collaborators; in this case Sebastian Vrancx has been suggested.