Landschap met Abraham en Izaäk 1590

This landscape with Abraham and Isaac was made around the turn of the 17th century by Jacob Savery I, using pen and brown ink. The sepia wash is quite conventional for the time. It's an interesting choice, because it gives the whole scene a kind of tonal unity. In the foreground, we see figures rendered with quite precise strokes. However, as the landscape recedes, the handling becomes much looser, dissolving into atmospheric perspective. What I find most compelling is the way this drawing combines biblical narrative with an evident interest in the texture and material conditions of the built environment. It's a study of buildings, and of the relationship between human beings and their environment. You can see this not only in the labor evident in the landscape, but also in the architecture, which is carefully observed and rendered, suggesting that Savery was as interested in the world around him as in the religious subject at hand. This approach blurs the lines between art and craft.