River Landscape 1597 - 1603

Jaques Saverij made this pen and brown ink drawing, River Landscape, sometime in the late 16th century. It depicts a somewhat romanticized scene with a tower, perhaps for defense or trade, in the foreground, and a castle in the background, both overlooking a river that bustles with boats. Saverij was a Flemish artist living at a time of great change in Northern Europe. His work emerges from a culture of exploration, trade, and emerging political states, and his landscapes can be seen as reflections of a society that was rapidly expanding its horizons. The presence of both defensive structures and commercial vessels suggests the complex social structures of Saverij’s time. If we want to understand the imagery here, we can research the economic and political history of Flanders in the late 16th century, consulting archival sources, maps, and other visual materials.