Forest Scene with Hunters

Savery traveled in 1603 to Prague, where he worked for Emperor Rudolf II. Probably painted after the artist returned to Amsterdam, this magical landscape draws on Savery's memories of the mountainous scenery of the Tyrol, Rudolf's menagerie of birds and animals, and castles that he passed on his way along the Rhine. Combining delicate foreground detail with an atmospheric background, this evocative fantasy differs markedly from the more straightforward and naturalistic landscapes that would soon dominate seventeenth-century Dutch painting.