Roelant Roghman, A Mountainous Landscape

Although Roelant Roghman made many topographical drawings, A Mountainous Landscape is almost certainly an imaginary view, conjured from sketches and drawings by himself or other artists who had travelled abroad. The rounded hills, craggy distant mountain and the strange little trees on the edge of the cliff don't belong in a typical landscape painting of the flat Dutch countryside. It’s an image that appeals to the imagination.

The figures have their backs to us – a man fishing in the river, a shepherd and his little boy wandering up the meandering path on the left, and a horseman and his companion crossing the flimsy bridge over the yawning chasm on the right. Seen almost in silhouette to add to the air of mystery, they are dwarfed by the landscape, like actors on an enormous stage under a turbulent sky.