Artwork
Landscape with Six Single Trees and Three Small Farm-Houses
Landscape with Six Single Trees and Three Small Farm-Houses is an ink print by the Renaissance artist Augustin Hirschvogel. It dates from 1528 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
A winding river bisects the composition, flanked by solitary trees and modest farmhouses with pitched roofs, while a distant bridge arches across the water.
Augustin Hirschvogel’s 1528 print, *Landscape with Six Single Trees and Three Small Farm‑Houses*, is an etching that presents a narrow, horizontal view of a countryside scene. A winding river bisects the composition, flanked by solitary trees and modest farmhouses with pitched roofs, while a distant bridge arches across the water. Rendered in black line on a light ground, the image relies on precise linear detail rather than color.
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts a quiet rural setting, emphasizing the isolation of individual trees and the simplicity of the farm structures. The arrangement suggests a contemplative relationship between humanity and nature, a theme common among artists of the Danube School, who often portrayed landscapes as spaces for reflection rather than narrative drama.
Technique & Style
Created by incising lines into a metal plate and then inking the recessed areas, the etching allows Hirschvogel to achieve fine, controlled strokes. The linear precision and delicate rendering of foliage and architecture reflect the meticulous approach typical of early 16th‑century Northern European printmaking, highlighting texture and depth through contrast alone.
History & Provenance
Although Hirschvogel is best known for a series of thirty‑five small landscape etchings produced between 1545 and 1549, this 1528 piece predates that mature period. The print has survived in several museum collections, indicating its early circulation among collectors interested in the emerging genre of topographical landscape prints.
Context
The image belongs to the Danube School, a loose group of Bavarian and Austrian artists active in the early 1500s who emphasized naturalistic detail and atmospheric perspective. Hirschvogel’s background as a mathematician and cartographer informed his precise rendering of terrain, aligning his work with the school’s interest in accurate, observational landscape representation.
Artist & collection
Artist
Augustin Hirschvogel (1503 – February 1553) was a German artist, mathematician, and cartographer known primarily for his etchings.
