22 - Herri MET de BLES (Bouvignes-sur-Meuse 1485/90 – ? c. 1560)

Herri MET de BLES (Bouvignes-sur-Meuse 1485/90 – ? c. 1560) Landscape with Saint Christopher Oak panel, two boards, reinforced 49 x 69 cm Monogrammed with the Owl Signs of wear Provenance: Liège Library. Although very little biographical information survives about Herri Met de Bles, his reputation is well documented, notably by Karel van Mander, who mentions his works in prestigious collections both in Amsterdam—in the collection of Emperor Rudolf—and in Italy. Isaac Bullart reports in his *Academy of Sciences and Arts* (1682) that “the rarest of his paintings were purchased at great expense for Emperor Rudolf and transported to Germany. Art lovers in Italy spared no expense to acquire their share as well and found them so to their liking that they took nearly all of them from the Netherlands to bring them back home.” A painter of landscapes animated by diverse scenes, he was close in style to Patinir, but unlike the latter, Bles readily enlivens the vast space of his compositions by inserting historical scenes with multiple figures, which introduce highly vibrant splashes of color into the overall blue-green-brown chromatic harmony. He uses an owl hidden in his paintings as a signature, hence the name “Civetta” (“owl”) given to him in Italy. In our painting, the owl is perched on one of the rocks to the right of the composition.