Landscape with Orpheus Gm-00067001

Unknown maker, Flemish, 16th century A high horizon line provides a bird's-eye view into a valley filled with moist air, and gradations of tone and atmospheric perspective define distance. Orpheus sits in the left foreground, enchanting not only the wild beasts but even the trees and rocks with the glorious sound of his sublimely beautiful music. The painting smoothly draws the viewer into the delightful landscape, beginning with the figures at lower left, progressing along the road to encounter a steer drawn to the melody's source, then continuing on as the road repeatedly winds into the background.

This artist was not chiefly interested in Orpheus, but he or she needed an excuse for painting a landscape. Artists of the 1500s usually presented their landscapes as settings for myths or Biblical stories. Despite the burgeoning market for pictures featuring landscapes, landscape was not yet considered an independent subject.