Autumn Landscape

This painting, depicting an autumn landscape with a shepherd and his herd and travellers near an inn, formed part of a rare set of six wall-hangings by the brothers Jacob and Abraham van Strij. Only very few complete or almost complete sets have survived, one of which, a set of seven, is now in the Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, and another set of five is in the Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague.

Wall-hangings became very popular in the second half of the 18th century, when several factories in Amsterdam were established producing these wall-hangings for the canal houses. The workshop of the Strij brothers also produced wall-hangings which are often signed by only one artist, the main contributor, in this case Jacob. However, in most cases the hand of both painters can be seen.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 11 minutes): Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in F major RV 293 op. 8 No. 3 (Autumn)