River Landscape with Mountains
17th century
Medium
Black chalk, black, brown and blue wash
Dimensions
sheet: 7 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (18.2 x 23.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Harry G. Sperling, 1971
Accession Number
1975.131.164
Tags
About this artwork
This atmospheric landscape drawing presents an imagined river valley scene inspired by the artist's travels along the Rhine and Moselle rivers. The composition combines observational naturalism with artistic invention, featuring craggy mountains, flowing water, and careful attention to atmospheric perspective. Saftleven builds up tonal gradations through layered washes of black, brown, and blue, creating depth and suggesting the play of light across the landscape. The drawing demonstrates the ar...
Art Historical Context
Herman Saftleven II1609–1685), a prolific Dutch artist Rotterdam who later settled in Utrecht, captured the majestic allure of German river valleys in this 17th-century drawing. Inspired by his travels along the Rhine and Mos rivers in the early 0s, *River Landscape with Mountains* blends on-site sketches with studio invention. Saftleven transformed raw observations into an idealized scene of craggy peaks, winding waters, boats, and distant houses, often noting "By den ryn" (near the Rhine) on similar works. Over his career, he produced over 1,200 drawings and 300 paintings, with Rhine landsca...