works

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Wellcome Café

Wellcome Kitchen

Wellcome Shop

To make your visit as safe and enjoyable as possible, you’ll need to follow our safety measures inside our venue, including wearing a face covering unless you’re exempt. Find out how we're keeping you safe. You no longer need to book a ticket to enter the museum or library.

We’re undertaking research with website visitors to find out some more about you and what you thought about your visit. This survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

What brought you to our website today?

The subject of the painting in the Hermitage is described by Adler as follows (left and right have to be reversed for the engraving): "A double rainbow spans a trough-like valley along which a stream runs across the picture from left to right towards the spectator. Beneath the rainbow in the middle distance is a group of farm buildings of partly Southern appearance. The raised ground on which they stand is pierced by two tunnels through which the stream pours under twin arches towards the foreground. On the left, and extending into the foreground, is a grove of tall trees, perhaps the border of a forest. Behind the buildings and to the right of them is a rocky mountain slope extending beyond the picture edge, its upper part hidden by the vapours of a summer storm. Near the foreground, the stream is spanned by a wooden bridge with no parapet; on the far side, three black cattle are advancing towards it from the middle ground. Pasture-land extends to the left of the stream as far as the trees and into the foreground. A path from the bridge runs across this flat area to the lower left corner of the picture, and the bridge and path together form a main diagonal crossing that of the stream. In the middle distance beyond the path is a shepherd among his flock, leaning on a stick. The path leads towards the rootstock of a large leafy tree in the left corner. Seated on the rootstock and leaning back is a flute-player in shepherd’s costume. He is looking to the right, in a line with the main diagonal; his left leg is stretched out in the same direction as the path, while his right leg is bent at the knee and pointing downwards. On the left, in front of the tree, another shepherd is leading a smiling young woman into the picture. These three figures form a conical group around the lower part of the tree. Next, to their right, is a dog of slender build, the upward slope of its back pointing towards the diagonal formed by the path and bridge, while its head, turned towards the flute-player, corresponds to the diagonal of the stream. In the centre, to the right of the dog, a couple are seated on the ground. The man faces the spectator in a relaxed attitude, leaning back and to the left, his right arm supported by a large, round, overturned milk-can, and his cheek resting on the back of his hand. The outline of his head is enlarged by a broad-brimmed hat. He looks dreamily at his companion, who is sitting upright in left profile, her legs and bare feet stretched out to the left. Her extended left arm rests lightly on her left thigh, while her right arm is on her companion’s left knee. She appears lost in thought. The right corner is firmly marked by two sheep standing at right angles to each other. The effect of light in the vaporous air is very striking."--Adler pp. 132-133
The engraving is described by Adler as follows: "The engraving by Schelte a Bolswert (Fig.111) shows most of the landscape features as they appear in the Hermitage painting: the broad bridge without a parapet, the group of buildings in the distance (admittedly a third arch of the culvert, as seen in the engraving, appears only in the Louvre version of the picture, where it was perhaps reworked subsequently); the little chapel on rising ground, the three cattle on the other side of the river instead of the haycart, the shepherd with his sheep in the middle distance, and the little side-path with a fence at the near end of the bridge. (The ravine-like depth of the side-channel in the Hermitage version does not occur in the Louvre version, which has sheep lying in this area; thus it is only in the former, and in the engraving, that we see a tuft of water plants just beyond the outstretched toe of the flute-player). The church, on the other hand, appears in the engraving as it does in the Louvre version; in the Hermitage painting it is clumsier-looking and less detailed. The human and animal figures in the foreground correspond to the Hermitage version. The chief divergences between the engraving and both the Hermitage and Louvre composition are thus the church, the position of the rainbow and the shape, size and number of the wall arches, as to which the engraving differs from both paintings."--Adler, loc. cit.

1 print : engraving ; platemark 33.5 x 45.5 cm

A rural landscape: a piping shepherd and two couples near a river with a village and mountains beyond; a rainbow to left. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Left, a fortified city with three towers, from which men emerge carrying cargoes. Other bales of cargo are already sitting on the shore. Three boats laden with bales are being rowed towards the ships at anchor. Another boat carries passengers. On the shore, fishermen are mending their nets

1 print : engraving, with etching ; image 44.3 x 65.1 cm

Ships at anchor in a Flemish port. Engraving by J.P. Le Bas, 1746, after David Teniers.

"The mantle of one of the old Flemish painters seems to have fallen upon the shoulders of Leys when he was occupied on the picture of ' The armourer.' In the days to which the subject carries us back, the artizan who worked at the forge was something more than an ordinary smith; he was often a real artist in metal, and welded rich armour for the steel-clad knight, as well as iron for the hoofs of his war-horse. The Flemish armour has always been celebrated for the "temper" of the metal, and the exquisite finish and delicacy with which the finest examples are wrought ; the forges of Liege, Antwerp, and Bruges sent out equipments in which the bravest warriors of Europe, and the most distinguished sovereigns, were proud to encase themselves. It is the interior of one of these famed workshops which is here represented ; it seems to be divided into two parts — that in the foreground for the superior kind of manufacture, and that in the background for the more common description. In the former are lying about various pieces of armour, and on the table are some ornamental objects in metal; in the latter is the armourer's assistant, who appears to be examining some article brought by the woman, probably for repair. There is an immense amount of detail in this picture, painted with extreme care and elaboration, which is carried so far as to give a not very agreeable appearance to the texture of the work : in technical phraseology it looks "liney;" much of this, however, the engraver has judiciously got rid of. It is a dark picture, with an effect such as we find in most of the works of Rembrandt. 'The armourer' is in the collection at Windsor."--The art journal, loc. cit.

A Flemish smith hammers at a piece of metal on his anvil as he makes suits of armour. Engraving by J. Godfrey, 1854, after H. Leys.

The painting, as inferred from the present engraving, is described by Adler as follows (left and right have to be reversed for the engraving): "On a summer's day, the meadows of Brabant are seen in unusual lighting under an overcast, rainy sky. A ray of sunlight falls on a stretch of pasture in the centre, some distance off. On the left, the flat country in the background is spanned by a rainbow ascending to the right; less than half its arc is seen, the remainder being cut off by the upper edge of the picture. The full span of the rainbow must cover a great deal more than the area in the picture, which is seen as if in close-up or through a large magnifier. Near the right edge is a group of three tall, slender trees, standing out against the expanse of sky as far as the top of the picture.
"Near the left edge are three tall, conical haystacks and, in front, a rack waggon with two horses. A farmer standing on a fourth, half-finished haystack is piling more hay on to one of the others. Near by, articles of clothing hung on a fence or spread out on the ground gleam white in the glancing light. The spectator's eye falls on the scene from an artificially high viewpoint. In the foreground are paths and more fences with a wooden gate made of boards, and a stream on the right behind the three tall trees. In this half of the picture, nearer the spectator, two young women are advancing to the right across the meadow, one with a flat basket of fruit on her head, the other with a rake over her shoulder.
"In the background, the broad meadows can be seen distinctly although it is twilight; between them are hedgerows, single trees and a few houses. The engraving gives an impression of contrast and tension between the overcast rainy sky and the flood of pent-up light beneath; this effect must have been even stronger in the lost picture."--Adler, loc. cit.

1 print : engraving ; platemark 33.8 x 45.7 cm

A rural landscape: a rainbow is in the sky as a man finishes building haystacks and two young women walk home. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P. P. Rubens.

Left, a Roman soldier accompanying Ferdinand holds trophies from defeated enemies. Above, Victory brings a wreath for Ferdinand. Right, the personification of Flanders is accompanied by the Belgian lion, by Hygieia holding a snake, and by an angel holding the crowned coat of arms of Antwerp. She raises up a fortified city on her head, representing the revival of the war-damaged cities of Flanders

A woman personifying Flanders gladly receives Ferdinand of Spain as he enters the country on horseback. Etching by T. van Thulden after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Biotechnology in Flanders : an industrial perspective / VIB, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The painting is described by Adler as follows (left and right have to be reversed for the engraving): "[...] In the immediate foreground, almost parallel to the picture plane, a road runs from right to left, where it reaches uneven ground on which trees are growing; here it bends into the distance and disappears at the left edge of the picture, behind a large rectangular bird-trap which is stretched across it and attached to trees on either side. In the left lower corner, dissolved into specks by the morning light, are the scarcely recognizable, manneristic figures of two women (one of them seen from behind), half cut off by the lower edge of the picture, and of a man sitting with them under low bushes in sunken ground. One of the women is pointing up to the bird-trap. To the right, on the other side of the bend in the road, a man crouches on a shady concave bank; he is doing his best to be invisible, and holds the release cord of the snare in his hand. A little further right, in the centre of the picture, the roadside is flat and the eye falls directly on a river swathed in mist and overgrown with reeds near the shore, with a solitary boat resting on it.
"In the middle distance a stone bridge with a semi-elliptical arch is seen through the mist. Directly above, the pale yellow disc of the sun shines through the vapours drifting to the right. A village church and some trees loom in the background through the mist, which thickens as it approaches the horizon. Nearer the spectator, on a mound to the right of the bridge, is a square Flemish windmill the curved sails of which, facing obliquely into the distance, seem to scoop up the light that flickers feebly through the mist and project it towards the spectator. To the right of the windmill is a cart drawn by a donkey and laden with sacks. A man is carrying a full sack from the mill down a flight of wooden steps.
"On the road in the foreground, where it is open on the river side, two men are kneeling and sawing at a tree-trunk, the angle of which leads the eye into the distance. The foreshortened tree-trunk, the bridge and the sun are in a single vertical line. Sunlight is reflected through the arch. The mists suggest autumn, and the bird-catching motif points to October."--Adler, loc. cit.
There are differences between the painting and the engraving. The morning mist is conspicuous in the painting, not in the engraving. The composition on all four sides is curtailed in the painting. The woman pointing upwards is clearly pointing in the engraving at three gamebirds that are flying near the trap

1 print : engraving ; platemark 32.8 x 47 cm

Countryside on an autumn morning: two men sawing a tree; a man holding up a bird-net; a windmill; and a bridge over a stream. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

The painting is described by Adler as follows (left and right have to be reversed for the engraving): "[] A wood, the right-hand part of which is close to the spectator, recedes, impressively foreshortened, into the distance on the left. From it a tongue of land projects forward, flanked by confluent streams. The triangular shape of the wood, in and around which space diagonals cluster and meet at a distant vanishing-point, is paralleled by a stream, the bluish-green and whitish waters of which reflect trees and the steep sides of the projection of land. At the right-hand side of the picture, where the tree-tops are cut off by its upper edge, a tributary flows out of the dark wood, joining the main stream where the latter is obliquely cut off by the lower picture-edge. The tributary is crossed by a footbridge leading from the rocky slope at the right-hand edge to the projecting piece of land.
"The bridge reinforces the cluster of space diagonals extending to the left. The footbridge and the direct view into depth at the right-hand edge, which is soon brought to a halt by the darkness of the wood, were added by Rubens at a later stage of the picture, originally much smaller. The small central vista through the wedgeshaped forest, where a patch of sky, yellowish-red in the sunlight, is visible above the distant horizon, must have played a much more important part in the original composition than it does now. An opening, only slightly concealed by two trees, appears in the section of the forest, and the latter does not recede continuously but in three stages coinciding with planes parallel to the picture surface; the shadowy opening appears in the second of these three planes.
"The stream flows into a large lake on the left. In front of it, in the very foreground, as though on a small island with tangled vegetation in the lower left corner of the picture, is a group of three trees which, like those of the forest on the extreme right, are cut off by the upper edge. A magpie and another bird are flying from the tops of these trees towards the middle of the picture. Beyond the tree motif, which serves as a repoussoir and frames the picture on the left, can be seen in the distance two swans on the water, a cottage with a fence round it and a cart standing in front, poplars and rows of bushes in an open meadow to the left, and on the extreme left, cut off by the edge, a quarter or more of the golden disc of the sun, the lower half of which is concealed by the reddish-yellow horizon.
"The lower part of the sky is covered by delicate veils of cloud, yellowish and red; further up, it is a deep blue. It is not certain whether the sun is rising or setting, but, in view of the huntsman coursing through the forest some distance away in the centre of the picture, the time is probably dawn. Nineteen sheep are grazing on the tongue of land next to the waters of the stream in which trees are reflected. Four of them, including the ram, which is darker in colour, are at the rocky tip of the promontory. Obliquely to the right behind them, near the footbridge, is a barefooted shepherd standing on one leg leaning on a stick; he wears a broad-brimmed slouch hat and is turning his head over his left shoulder to our right. The ram behind the three sheep is looking attentively, with raised head, in the same direction."--Adler, loc. cit.
The engraving follows the finished composition of the painting as described by Adler very accurately, in reverse

1 print : engraving ; platemark 32 x 46 cm

The edge of a wood at dawn: a shepherd with his flock of sheep, on the bank of a stream where it flows into a lake. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

The painting is described by Adler as follows (left and right have to be reversed for the engraving): "In the centre of a landscape sloping down the left, near the front of the picture is a rock on which small trees and shrubs are growing. Between it and the spectator is a rushing stream which starts its course from the depth of the picture at the back and runs from the right to the left foreground. The rock is split vertically in the middle, and at the bottom of the cleft is a cave-like opening. The main course of the stream runs past this opening into the dark area of the lower left corner of the picture—for, curiously enough, the scene to the left of the rock is a nocturnal one: the full moon, in front of which bats are fluttering, shines out in a cloudy sky and is reflected in a calm stretch of water below. To the right of the rock the scene is in broad daylight, and the broken-up terrain rises in successive elevations to a distant mountain. In front of this prospect at the right, but without obscuring it, stands a gnarled oak-tree with sparse foliage, its top cut off by the upper edge of the picture. The tree, rooted at the rear of the foreground plane, leans impressively to the left and towards the spectator, overshadowing a road which leads from the right lower corner towards the stream and the rocky cave. A cart drawn by a white and a bay horse is seen from behind obliquely and close to: it is a vehicle of the South Netherlands type, laden with large quarried stones, and is negotiating with difficulty the slope leading down to the stream, which is no doubt fordable at this point. The cart is tilted to the left and is in imminent danger of capsizing. The driver on the white horse, in a whitish coat, is attempting to hold back the horses and looks round anxiously, while his mate, who is barefooted and wears a bright red jacket, is pushing at the cart to prevent it toppling over to the left. Both men are in straw hats. At the left edge of the rock a man and a woman can be seen in the darkness, warming themselves by a fire. Also to the left of the rock, and further away than the oak-tree on the right, whose roots are on this side of the stream, is a tall leafy tree. The two trees embrace the counter-diagonal which the cart, road and cave present to the strike- line of the rock and the stream flowing by; they thus enframe the cleft rock and the central motif of the cart on its toilsome journey from day into night. Two low pollard willows in front on the left are effective repoussoirs and emphasize the detail and depth of the foreground area, always so important in Rubens landscapes."--Adler, loc. cit.
"With reference to this painting Evers in 1942 discussed the question of landscapes presenting, as it were, two independent scenes. This form of composition, frequent in the 16th and early 17th centuries, was linked by Evers with the medieval type of stage which presented several structures simultaneously or consisted of juxtaposed carts with different superstructures. He pointed out that cyclic representations naturally lend themselves to compositions in two or more parts: morning and evening, day and night, the four seasons, the twelve months. An example of the correlation of life and death with summer and winter is pointed out by Evers in the Allegory of Life and Death in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum at Nuremberg, a work that originated c. 1480 in the region of Lake Constance under Franco-Flemish influence. This shows on the left a dead man in a landscape of trees that have lost their leaves, on the right an elegant young couple in a blooming landscape, and in the foreground two naked infants beside a spring."--Adler, loc. cit.

1 print : engraving ; platemark 33.5 x 45.7 cm

A man riding on a horse which is pulling a wagon loaded with masonry, while another man attempts to keep the wagon steady. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir Peter Paul Rubens.

The painting is described by Adler as follows (left and right have to be reversed for the engraving): "The painting, only 43 cm. long and executed rapidly with sketch-like light and cloud effects, shows a portion of man-made scenery at sunrise; the round disc of the sun, radiating bright golden-yellow light, is immediately above the horizon, somewhat left of centre. The view is limited by rising ground in the middle distance, on the left and especially on the right, where an Italian-looking villa is surrounded by trees; these, with their slender crowns of foliage, also have a Mediterranean look and seem to sway with the breeze in the silvery morning light. The view in the centre is so flooded with bright whitish yellow sunlight that the horizon cannot be seen there either. On the eminence to the left, slightly further off than the other, are trees of more sombre appearance with dark trunks and foliage, lit from behind by the sun's rays and standing out against a bright blue area of sky. Between their trunks can be seen, further off, a rustic building and a church with a pointed Gothic spire. 
"In the immediate foreground are the trunks of felled trees, also two whole pollard willows with their branches and with reddish-brown leaves. This foliage with its warm reddish-brown and light cocoa brown reflections is summarily represented by dots as it is so near the spectator. A little further back, a stream with glittering bluish-white reflections runs aslant the foreground; it is crossed by a stone bridge leading to the villa. In the shadow of the bridge on the right can be seen the hindquarters of two horses, a grey and a bay, drinking at the stream; the bay is ridden by a peasant in a red jacket. On the hill-side behind the bridge is a cylindrical stone draw-well with a sloping lever; here a woman, also in a red jacket, is pouring water into a vessel standing on the ground. The sunlight, striking horizontally across the terrain, leaves many parts of it in shadow, but wherever an elevation catches the light it is picked out with rich yellowish-white and pinkish-white highlights; pink and bright red or milky brown light spreads over the scene, and the coping of the bridge parapet looks as if it were coated with warmly glowing paint. The sky on the left is intensely blue, on the right silver-grey. Delicate veils of cloud, running slantwise, complete the impression of morning radiance, as the light dissipates the last traces of mist in the sky and the tops of trees, the last shadows in folds of the ground."--Adler, loc. cit.
The villa described by Adler also serves as a farm-house: it contains a stable in which three cows or horses are seen. From the stream in the foreground a duck emerges to feed on the bank; it is not mentioned by Adler as being visible in the painting

1 print : engraving ; platemark 28.9 x 42.3 cm

A rural landscape: in the light of the rising or setting sun, a man draws water from a well, while two horses drink from a stream. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Wellcome uses cookies.

More filters

Active filters:

A rural landscape: a piping shepherd and two couples near a river with a village and mountains beyond; a rainbow to left. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Ships at anchor in a Flemish port. Engraving by J.P. Le Bas, 1746, after David Teniers.

A Flemish smith hammers at a piece of metal on his anvil as he makes suits of armour. Engraving by J. Godfrey, 1854, after H. Leys.

A rural landscape: a rainbow is in the sky as a man finishes building haystacks and two young women walk home. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P. P. Rubens.

A woman personifying Flanders gladly receives Ferdinand of Spain as he enters the country on horseback. Etching by T. van Thulden after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Biotechnology in Flanders : an industrial perspective / VIB, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Countryside on an autumn morning: two men sawing a tree; a man holding up a bird-net; a windmill; and a bridge over a stream. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

The edge of a wood at dawn: a shepherd with his flock of sheep, on the bank of a stream where it flows into a lake. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

A man riding on a horse which is pulling a wagon loaded with masonry, while another man attempts to keep the wagon steady. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir Peter Paul Rubens.

A rural landscape: in the light of the rising or setting sun, a man draws water from a well, while two horses drink from a stream. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Search the collections

More filters

Active filters:

A rural landscape: a piping shepherd and two couples near a river with a village and mountains beyond; a rainbow to left. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Ships at anchor in a Flemish port. Engraving by J.P. Le Bas, 1746, after David Teniers.

A Flemish smith hammers at a piece of metal on his anvil as he makes suits of armour. Engraving by J. Godfrey, 1854, after H. Leys.

A rural landscape: a rainbow is in the sky as a man finishes building haystacks and two young women walk home. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P. P. Rubens.

A woman personifying Flanders gladly receives Ferdinand of Spain as he enters the country on horseback. Etching by T. van Thulden after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Biotechnology in Flanders : an industrial perspective / VIB, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Countryside on an autumn morning: two men sawing a tree; a man holding up a bird-net; a windmill; and a bridge over a stream. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

The edge of a wood at dawn: a shepherd with his flock of sheep, on the bank of a stream where it flows into a lake. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

A man riding on a horse which is pulling a wagon loaded with masonry, while another man attempts to keep the wagon steady. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir Peter Paul Rubens.

A rural landscape: in the light of the rising or setting sun, a man draws water from a well, while two horses drink from a stream. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome collection