Flemish master; first half of the 17th century.

Flemish master; first half of the 17th century.
"Landscapes".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has amrco of the 19th century.
Measurements: 117 x 183 cm; 135 x 200 cm (frame).
The two compositions reveal a compositional structure characteristic of the early Flemish Baroque landscape: a foreground in semidarkness, with figures and anecdotal elements, travelers, horsemen, peasants, animals, which act as a visual entry point, followed by a progressive opening towards a luminous background in which valleys, winding rivers, villages and idealized architectures unfold. This resource, heir to the formulas developed by Joachim Patinir and later perfected by Jan Brueghel the Elder, makes it possible to generate a profound sense of atmospheric distance through chromatic gradation: warm and earthy tones in the near zones, which progressively cool towards blues and greens in the distance. In them we can perceive the inheritance of the 16th century landscape and, at the same time, the path towards more naturalistic forms that would culminate in later artists such as Jacob van Ruisdael.
From the stylistic point of view, these paintings show a remarkable sensitivity to the effects of light and the observation of the natural environment, although they are not strictly topographical landscapes, but idealized constructions that combine real elements with imaginary inventions. The vegetation, treated with almost miniaturist meticulousness in the trees in the foreground, contrasts with the simplification of the forms on the horizon, where steep mountains and wide skies configure a scenario of almost poetic resonances.
Both show the eloquent consolidation of the landscape genre in the Flemish school, at a time when this type of representation acquired full aesthetic autonomy and intellectual value. In contrast to the narrative predominance of the religious painting of the previous century, these works place nature as the undisputed protagonist, articulating broad panoramic views in which the human presence, although significant, is subordinated to the vastness of the environment.