Travellers Attacked by Bandits, Anton Mirou (Antwerp, 1570-1621)

Anton Mirou (Antwerp, 1570-1621)
Landscape with Travelers Attacked by Brigands
Period early 17th century
Oil on copper: h. 21cm, w. 29cm.
Precious frame in tortoiseshell veneer on a gold background
Framed dimensions: h. 38 cm, w. 46cm

Our painting illustrates several figures in a hilly landscape dominated by tall trees with rich foliage and a stream that meanders towards the bottom. The scene is very animated and can be read on several levels: while men in the foreground discuss their misadventure, the two bandits move away into the forest. In the background on the right, a horseman goes hunting, inviting us to discover the depth of the landscape. Large trees punctuate the space and contribute by numerous shadows and areas of light to recede as far as the eye can see the bluish horizon, whose opening on the right allows us to distinguish a barely sketched village. The foliage of the trees is delicately enhanced by the traditional color palette of brown, green and blue, which delimit the space and create perspective thanks to the change of hues. A contrast is created between the tranquility of the landscape and the enveloping warm light and the commotion produced by the attack of brigands. The admiring contemplation of nature is transmitted to us through the know-how and skill of the artist.

Provenance : with Galerie Robert Finck at the Florence Biennale in 1967 as Anton Mirou (excerpt from the catalog below).
Galerie Robert Finck active in the 1960s in Brussels was an important gallery specializing in paintings by old masters. Participating in prestigious international fairs as well as organizing numerous exhibitions in Brussels, several catalogs covering this events have been published during its years of activity.

Anton Mirou (Antwerp, 1570-1621/1627)
Antoine, or Anton Mirou, born around 1570 in Antwerp, where he died shortly after 1621, was a Flemish painter of the Baroque era, active in Frankenthal, Germany.
His parents, the pharmacist Hendrik Mirou and his first wife, settled in Frankenthal in 1586. They were among the Calvinist emigrants who fled the Netherlands from 1562 to place themselves under the protection of Prince Palatine Frederick III. Anton Mirou is part of the important school of landscape painters led by Gillis van Coninxloo, which exercised its strongest influence on the painter, along with that of Pieter Schoubroeck. In his landscapes, he follows Coninxloo's compositional scheme, through the theory of three colors: brown in the foreground, green in the middle planes and blue in the background. But Coninxloo's influence extends to the use of details similar to those of the master: fortifications, waterfalls, bridges and hunting motifs appear frequently in the work of both. Schoubroeck's influence is most evident in depictions of peasant villages, with similar elements in both authors: bustling country lanes with peasant figures and rolling hills in the background. Some of his works are also reminiscent of the work of Jan Brueghel the Elder, especially in the use of greens and blues and in the precision of the details. He probably returned to Antwerp around 1621 where he died a few years later (between 1621 and 1627)