River Landscape - Théobald Michau (1676 - 1765)

**Attributed to Théobald Michau (Tournai, 1676 – Antwerp, 1765)**

**River Landscape with a Small Market near the Village**

Period: Late 17th – early 18th century

Oil on oak panel
Presented in a beautiful blond tortoiseshell frame interspersed with black guilloche mouldings.
Dimensions with frame: 57 × 72 cm. Panel alone: 40 × 55 cm.

This painting offers a lively scene of Flemish rural life, characteristic of the work of Théobald Michau, an artist active from the late 17th to the mid?18th century. The landscape is structured around a village bordered by a river, where a small market is taking place. The artist unfolds a rich and bustling composition populated with figures, animals, and architectural elements, creating an atmosphere that is both picturesque and harmonious.

**Foreground:** Villagers go about their daily activities—conversing, transporting goods, tending to animals. A white horse harnessed to a cart, along with chickens and dogs, animates the scene.
**Right side:** Thatched-roof houses host commercial and social exchanges, suggesting a vibrant local economy.
**Left side:** The river is dotted with boats and ducks, with riverside buildings linking the village to broader fluvial activity.
**Background:** A path leads to a windmill perched on a hill, symbolizing agriculture and technical ingenuity. A church with a slender steeple rises on the horizon, anchoring the scene within a Christian community.

Théobald Michau belongs to the tradition of Flemish landscape painters, heirs to Jan Brueghel the Elder and David Teniers the Younger. His work is distinguished by:
- A narrative meticulousness, in which every figure contributes to a vivid genre scene.
- A luminous palette that enhances the clarity of the air and the mildness of the climate, with softer, more pastel tones than those of his predecessors.
- A mastery of atmospheric perspective, guiding the viewer’s eye from the foreground toward the horizon.

This type of painting, highly appreciated by the urban bourgeoisie, celebrated an idealized vision of the countryside while highlighting the virtues of work, community, and faith.

He is represented in the museums of Antwerp, Tournai, Vienna (K.M.), Rennes, and Rotterdam (B.V.B.).

**Good condition. Sold with a certificate.**