Mealtime in the country

Deemed by Klaus Ertz to be 'von bester Qualität' (of the highest quality), the present work is an excellent example of the artist's highly original forays into pure landscape painting late in his career (loc. cit.). Ertz notes, presumbaly on the basis of the configuration of the signature, that it must date from after 1616, and on stylistic grounds a date around circa 1630 seems most plausible. The picture compares closely with several other landscapes painted by the artist in this period, such as the Village Scene with a Drunkard, of 1632 (Vienna, private collection), and the Village Landscape, of 1634, which is his latest dated work (sold in these Rooms, 8 July 2005, lot 55, £736,000). All these works demonstrate the late creative flourish in Brueghel's oeuvre and each exist in only one or two versions, without prolific repetition. The composition and the palette here are typically vibrant, and highly expressive of the artist's rustic vision of the Flemish countryside. It is evenly populated by figures, both young and old, who each adopt different positions, variously sitting and standing, or eating and talking, as they engage in daily activities, resulting in a bright, spirited and vivid example of Brueghel the Younger's mature work.

Ertz records two autograph replicas of the present work, one formerly with Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris, and the other in the National Gallery in Prague (op. cit., nos. 1120 and 1122).