Landscape with a Castle on a Hill
- Date
- c 1660-1670
- Object type
- painting
- Technique
- oil
- Material
- canvas
- Dimensions
- 101,2 x 89,0 cm
- Location
- The Palace on the Isle - Portrait Room, ground floor
- Marks and inscriptions
- signed Moucheron f. at bottom, c. 25 cm from left edge red number 4625 of the Russian Imperial collection, bottom right
- Place of Origin
- Netherlands (Europe)
- Owner
- National Museum in Warsaw
- Acquisition name
- deposit; inv. no. M.Ob.2733
- Museum number
- Dep 555
This painting and its pendant—Woodland Landscape with Cattle (National Museum in Warsaw, inv. no. M.Ob.1070) were recorded in the early catalogues of the Stanisław August collection (1783 and 1784–92; nos. 808 and 809) as ‘lovely’, but without naming the author, although both pictures bear the signature of Moucheron… .
The paintings were always thought to be a pair, although it is not certain if they were originally painted as companion pieces. They have similar dimensions, although it is worth considering whether they meet the iconographic requirements of companion pieces as used in 17th-century Dutch painting—the juxtaposing of two ‘antithetical’ or contrasting subjects … .
Italian Landscape with a Castle on a Hill, which opened out onto a distant view of the meadows with bluish hills on the horizon, would be contrasted with a closed view of a Woodland Landscape with Cattle.…
The composition of Landscape with a Castle on a Hill alludes to similar views by Jan Both and his follower, Jan Hackaert. Moucheron borrowed the motif of the silver tree trunks—one of the most distinctive traits of his manner—from Hackaert. …
As Antoni Ziemba pointed out, among the landscapes by Dutch artists recorded in the catalogue of the Stanisław August collection, works by the Italianists were predominant (apart from Moucheron, there is also mention of Jan Both, Nicolaes Berchem, Jan Hackaert, and Cornelis van Poelenburch). In accordance with the prevailing trend among collectors in the second half of the 18th century, the king preferred decorative, serene views suffused with southern light (as well as Baroque imaginary landscapes) to realistic presentations of the native Dutch landscape, which were virtually unrepresented in his collection (Ziemba 1996, pp. 46–49, in: ‘Stanisława Augusta holenderski „pochop”. Obrazy holenderskich mistrzów XVII wieku w kolekcji królewskiej’, in: De Gustibus. Studia ofiarowane przez przyjaciół Tadeuszowi Stefanowi Jaroszewskiemu z okazji 65 rocznicy urodzin, Warsaw 1996, pp. 41–52). … . [D. Juszczak, H. Małachowicz, The Stanisław August Collection of Paintings at the Royal Łazienki. Catalogue, Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw 2016, no. 76, pp. 291–293.]