Jan van Kessel
Flemish, 1626 - 1679Air, ca. 1647
On view
Oil on copper
Dimensions30 × 39 in. (76.2 × 99.1 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William L. Richards through the Viola E. Bray Charitable Trust Fund, 1965.33
Like many artists of the 17th century, Jan van Kessel was taught to paint by a master artist and in his case, his uncle Jan Brueghel the Younger. In 1625 Brueghel's father, Jan Brueghel the Elder passed away and his son took over his workshop, continuing the artistic traditions of his father. Years later he would teach his nephew, Jan van Kessel, by having him copy his, and his father's paintings. This painting is from a series titled the Four Elements, which van Kessel based on a series of the same name painted by his grandfather between 1606 and 1611. The painting, with its strikingly accurate renderings of the atmospheric conditions and creatures of flight, is an allegory representing one of the four elements of matter (earth, fire, and water are the remaining three).
In the center of the painting, Apollo drives his chariot across the sky, while Urania, the muse of astronomy, sits on a cloud and holds a celestial globe. These elements are all contained within a landscape characterized by a dark and stormy sky on the left that brightens and recedes over a vast expanse of trees and mountains on the right.
