The Large Landscapes: Solicitudo Rustica

c. 1555–58

attributed to Jan van Doetechum

(Flemish, 1530–1616)

after Pieter Bruegel

(Netherlandish, c. 1525/30–1569)

Culture

Flanders

Medium

engraving and etching

Measurements

Image: 31.5 x 43 cm (12 3/8 x 16 15/16 in.); Sheet: 31.5 x 43 cm (12 3/8 x 16 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection 1980.104

Catalogue raisonné

Giulio Lari 11

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The letters "inue" next to the artist's name, "brueghel," represented the word "inventit," Latin for "has designed it."

Description

In the Netherlands, Pieter Bruegel’s designs for a series of large landscape prints may have relied on sketches (now lost) he made passing through the Alps in the early 1550s. This view is more a compendium of various visual characteristics of the Alps, rather than a specific place. The elevated point of view and massive, powerful cliffs and crags in the distance give way to a river valley and flat plains akin to Bruegel’s Low Countries homeland. The figures include peasants whose
mundane activities reinforce the landscape as a container for “rustic cares” (solicitudo rustica).