A native of Woerden, near Utrecht, Swanevelt visited Paris in 1623 and shortly after moved to Italy, where he worked in Rome between 1629-41. In the present work, his northern style, influenced by Adam Elsheimer and Paul Bril (who died in Rome in 1626), is tempered with a clear daylight, found in many of Swanevelt's small-format early works. This picture is one of the earliest signed works in Swanevelt's oeuvre, dating to the second half of the 1620s, shortly after the artist arrived in Rome (A.C. Steland, loc. cit.). Steland notes that the particular formation of the treetops, the drawing of the foliage and the composition originate from Bril's Mountain Landscape with a Flock of Goats on a Rock at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (inv. no. 974), with the small, elongated figures typical of Swanevelt's earliest Roman works.
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The copper support is uniformly thin and has slight tenting over the lower left and upper right corners. Overall the support is stable. The paint layer is stable under a clear high gloss varnish. There is some frame abrasion and associated losses at the extreme edges, these are usually hidden by the rabbet of the frame. Further areas of loss and restoration are visible in natural light in each of the corners. Inspection under ultraviole light revealed a few scattered restorations in the landscape and sky, most notably to the rock directly behind the figures. The painting presents well and is offered in an ornate carved and gilt wood frame.
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Lot 309Sale 21643
Hagar and the Angel in an extensive landscapeHERMAN VAN SWANEVELT (?WOERDEN C.1600-1655 PARIS)Estimate: USD 15,000 - 20,000
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