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Original fileTekenaar zittend op een steen voor een brug
About This Work
A small figure sits in the foreground with his back turned, recording the rugged alpine scenery onto a sketchpad. The composition features a precarious wooden bridge spanning rocky cliffs and a secluded waterfall tucked into the bank. The dense foliage and sharp crags are characteristic of the 'Bohemian' style developed at the court of Emperor Rudolf II.
As the court engraver to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, Sadeler's landscapes reflect the Rudolfine fascination with the 'sublime' and the meticulous study of nature. This engagement with the natural world was often framed within the philosophical context of understanding the 'Book of Nature' as a reflection of divine order and the macrocosm.
Inscriptions
R. Savery Inuent. Eg: sadeler excud. Cu priuil. S.C.M.tis Marco Sadeler excudit
Translation
R. Savery Inventor. Eg. Sadeler publisher. With the privilege of His Sacred Imperial Majesty. Marco Sadeler publisher.
Connected Texts
Roelant Savery
The designer of the image, who traveled to the Tyrolean Alps at the behest of Rudolf II to capture the 'wonders of nature'.
Rudolf II
The Holy Roman Emperor whose court in Prague was a center for alchemy, natural philosophy, and the visual recording of the natural world.
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 205 mm x width 264 mm
landscape
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.