This drawing, the earliest known by Jan Brueghel the Elder, records the city of Heidelberg seen from the west across the Neckar River. The castle appears as it did before additions were made between 1590 and 1592. Brueghel's sketch dates from about 1588-89, when the artist traveled from Antwerp to Italy, arrriving in Naples in 1590. The definition of forms with a combination of short, vertical lines in fine pen, which in places are blurred, and the broadly applied translucent washes are characteristic, as is the composition. Brueghel made several drawings of Heidelberg and used motifs from these travel sketches in paintings such as the Allegory of Spring of 1611 (private collection, Scotland), which shows Heidelberg castle as it appears in a copy after a drawing by Brueghel in the Kurpfalzisches sketchbook (Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart).
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:View of Heidelberg
Artist:Jan Brueghel the Elder (Netherlandish, Brussels 1568–1625 Antwerp)
Date:ca. 1588–89
Medium:Pen and brown ink, brush and blue and brown wash, heightened with white; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Dimensions:7 7/8 x 12 in. (20.0 x 30.5 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Purchase, David T. Schiff Gift and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1995
Object Number:1995.15
Inscription: Verso, at lower left, inscribed in graphite by a later hand: "P.Brugel"
sale, Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries14 Dec. 1911, lot 1278 (?); Robert von Hirsch; his sale, Sotheby's, London, June 20, 1978, vol. I, lot 29; with Kate Ganz, Ltd.(1991); sale, Sotheby's, AmsterdamNovember 17, 1993, lot 87; Vendor: Kate Ganz, Ltd.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," May 3–July 25, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," November 5–January 28, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 24–April 24, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," October 24, 2008–February 1, 2009.
Edmund Schilling Handzeichnung alter Meister aus Deutschem Privatbesitz. Edited by Georg Swarzenski, Frankfurt, 1924, cat. no. 33, XV, ill.
Ludwig Münz The Drawings of Bruegel Complete edition. London, 1961, cat. no. A35.
Matthias Winner "Zeichnungen des Älteren Jan Brueghel." in the Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen. Berlin, 1961, fig. no. 14, pp. 204, 206, 21, ill.
Gisela Bergsträsser "Jan Brueghel the Elder: View of Rome." In Master Drawings. vol. 3, New York, 1965, pp. 262-263.
Sotheby's, London The Robert von Hirsch Collection: Old Master Drawings, Paintings and Medieval Miniatures. [Sale Catalogue]. vol. 1, 1978, cat. no. 29, ill.
An Zwollo "Pieter Stevens: Nieuw Werk, Contact met Jan Brueghel, Invloed op Kerstiaen de Deuninck." Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek. 1982, p. 96.
Zeichnungen des 15. bis 18. Jahrhunderts. Exh. cat. Graphische Sammlung, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 1984, p. 23.
Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe Die Renaissance im Deutschen Südwesten: zwischen Reformation und Dreißigjahrigem Krieg. Exh. cat. 1986, p. 363.
Karel G. Boon The Netherlandish and German Drawings of the XVth and XVIth centuries of The Frits Lugt Collection. Fondation Custodia-Collection Frits Lugt, 1, Paris, 1992, p. 433.
Sotheby's, Amsterdam Old Master Drawings: Dutch, Flemish amd German Drawings: Including the H.R. Bijl Collection. Sale catalogue. November 17, 1993, cat. no. 87, ill.
Morgan Library & Museum The Thaw Collection: Master Drawings and New Acquisitions. Exh. cat. New York, 1994, p. 36.
Carmen C. Bambach, Colta Ives, Suzanne Boorsch, Carolyn Logan, Perrin Stein "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 1994-1995." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 53, no. 2, Fall 1995, p. 34, ill.
Kurpfälzisches Skizzenbuch: Ansichten Heidelbergs und der Kurpfalz um 1600. Edited by Hans Hubach, 1996, fig. 1, pp. 11, 13, 25, ill.
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Pieter Breughel der Jüngere - Jan Brueghel der Ältere: Flämische Malerei um 1600. Tradition und Fortschritt. Exh. cat. 1997-1998, cat. 146, pp. 39, 426-427, ill.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.
