Southern Landscape with Travellers

While studying in Italy, Utrecht artist Jan Both learned how to capture the distinctive warmth and atmosphere of southern Europe. With an eye for detail, the artist carefully rendered the trees and foliage alongside the riverbed on an impressively minute scale. The painting’s copper support, slick and metallic, enhances the river’s reflective quality and creates an overall lustre. Because of these visual effects, and because copper was pricier than canvas or wood panel, paintings on copper were especially prized.