Coastal Landscape With Christ, Circle Of Paul Bril (1554-1626), 17th Century Antwerp School

Oil on oak panel: h. 25.5 cm, w. 35 cm
Baroque style ebonized frame
Framed dimensions: h. 39 cm, w. 49 cm

Our work illustrates the biblical story of the healing of the possessed man of Gerasa (Mark 5:1-13) against the backdrop of a majestic coastal landscape.
In the center of the foreground we see Jesus surrounded by his disciples facing a man possessed by demons, so agitated that he is held down by two people. Christ raises his hand in a gesture of blessing to expel and send the demons into a herd of pigs that run towards the cliff behind them, jumping into the water in panic. A cloud of dust envelops the drowning animals. This crucial moment in the story, chosen by the artist, creates a dramatic tension accentuated by a stormy sky, but the event is eclipsed by the immensity and richness of the landscape. The viewer's gaze flees the main scene by following the mountain valley to climb up to the castle perched on the rock or follows the coastline before getting lost in the imaginary estuary where the blurred contours of a small Italianate port with a watchtower appear in the distance.
As is customary among landscape painters, the subject, often placed in the foreground, is only a pretext for depicting the surrounding nature. The plunging viewpoint opening onto the distance helps to diminish the role attributed to the figures positioned in the foreground. Indeed, they populate the landscape, without dominating it, the world in the painter's vision being larger and unfathomable.
Faithful to the Flemish tradition implemented by Joachim Patinir (1475/1480-1524), the choice of colors follows the pattern of gradual gradation. A transition from brown in the foreground, passing through shades of green, to blue and white on the horizon, creates a striking light and depth.
Our work is a version of the same format of an oil painting on copper signed by Paul Bril, dated 1601 and kept at the Pinakothek of Munich, Germany. Paul Bril executed an autograph replica in the same format and support in 1608. Both coppers were executed in Rome (1582-1626), the artist having spent almost his entire career in Italy.
• Paul Bril, signed and dated 1601, copper 27 cm x 36 cm, inv. 876 Alte Pinakothek Munich
• Paul Bril, signed and dated 1608, copper, 26.9 x 35.1 cm, Christie's Amsterdam, 17/11/1994

Our painting on an oak panel attests to its Flemish origin, not coming directly from Paul Bril's workshop, since the works of Paul Bril and his workshop are painted on canvas or copper. Nevertheless, one of the two original paintings probably brought by a student or colleague of Paul Bril to Antwerp must have aroused some interest among local painters, since at least two additional replicas on oak are listed on the art markets:
• Hampel sale, Munich, 08/12/2022 lot n 304 (oil on panel 72x120 cm)
• Tajan sale, Paris, 18/10/2005, lot n 44 (oil on oak panel 24.5 x 35.5 cm)