Artwork

Ansichten aus den vier Weltteilen mit Szenen von Tieren: Havanna

Ansichten aus den vier Weltteilen mit Szenen von Tieren: Havanna is an unspecified painting by Ferdinand van Kessel the Elder. It dates from 1682 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

About this work

Overview

Created circa 1682 by Flemish Baroque painter Ferdinand van Kessel the Elder, this oil work belongs to a series that illustrates imagined scenes from the four continents. The particular canvas portrays a tropical setting in Havana, populated by a variety of animals and a distant urban skyline, combining landscape and genre elements in a single composition.

Subject & Meaning

The foreground centers on a dark brown predator, its teeth and claws exposed as it stands over a slain alligator, while another alligator lies motionless nearby. A bird swoops overhead, and the background reveals a hazy cityscape that situates the drama within a Caribbean port, suggesting themes of nature’s violence amid human settlement.

Technique & Style

Van Kessel employs a strong chiaroscuro, contrasting deep shadows with illuminated forms to heighten tension. The palette shifts from earthy browns in the animal figures to brighter blues and greens in the sky and distant buildings, creating depth. The composition guides the eye toward the central beast, while the layered landscape recedes into atmospheric perspective.

History & Provenance

The painting entered the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it remains on display. It is part of the museum’s holdings of Baroque Flemish works, acquired through the museum’s 19th‑century efforts to assemble a representative survey of European painting.

Context

Within van Kessel’s oeuvre, the work reflects his interest in exotic subjects and animal motifs, a popular Baroque fascination with the New World. The series of continental views served both decorative and educational purposes, offering viewers a visual catalogue of distant lands and their fauna, filtered through European artistic conventions.