Artwork
Group portrait in a landscape
Group portrait in a landscape is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp. It dates from 1639 and is held in the collection of the collection Adriaan van der Hoop. Jacob Gerritsz.
About this work
Technique & Style
Cuyp's practice of integrating figures into expansive natural surroundings rather than isolating them in conventional interior or plain-background formats.
The work is executed in oil paint on panel, a support typical of Dutch seventeenth-century cabinet-scale production. According to the catalogue record, it measures approximately 85.4–85.5 cm in height by 114.5–114.8 cm in width, giving it a horizontal landscape format that accommodates the multi-figure arrangement within an outdoor setting.
Stylistically, the painting belongs to the portrait tradition, with the sitters grouped within a landscape environment, a compositional formula associated with Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp's practice of integrating figures into expansive natural surroundings rather than isolating them in conventional interior or plain-background formats. The genre is recorded as both portrait and landscape painting, reflecting this dual character.
History & Provenance
Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp executed this group portrait set within a landscape in 1639. The work was created using oil paint on a panel support. Historically, the painting entered the collection of Adriaan van der Hoop.
It is currently held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, having been part of the van der Hoop assembly that also connects to the Amsterdam Museum's holdings.
The work is held in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and is also part of the Adriaan van der Hoop collection. Its inventory number is not specified in the available sources. It has been exhibited as part of the Rijksmuseum's portrait and landscape painting presentations.
Overview
Jacob Gerritsz. Cuijps created the oil painting Group portrait in a landscape in 1639, a work now held by the Rijksmuseum. Executed during the Dutch Golden Age, the canvas combines portraiture with an expansive outdoor setting, reflecting Cuijps’s dual interest in figures and pastoral scenery.
Subject & Meaning
The composition gathers a family group beside a large black horse. A woman in a dark dress cradles a lamb, while two children stand nearby, one wearing a hat and floral garland, the other holding the horse’s reins. A dog lies on the ground, and a man in a wide‑brimmed hat leans against a cart. Distant figures walk through a tree‑lined landscape, suggesting a narrative of rural domestic life.
Context
During the early seventeenth century, Dutch artists frequently merged portraiture with genre and landscape elements, reflecting the era’s growing interest in everyday life and the natural world. Cuijps’s work exemplifies this trend, situating a familial group within a detailed, bucolic environment that highlights both social status and connection to the land.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jacob Gerritszoon Cuyp or Cuijp (1594–1652) was a portrait and landscape painter, best known for his portraits.
