Danube Landscape near Regensburg with Scheuchenberg

Danube landscape near Regensburg with Scheuchenberg is a landscape painting by Albrecht Altdorfer, completed in around 1528.

Introduction

Albrecht Altdorfer was considered the leader of the Danube School and in this painting we understand some of the local environment, and how it inspired the artist. He would produce landcape-only artworks at a time when this was particularly rare, opening the way for later generations with the Romanticist and Impressionist eras.

Description

This landscape painting summarises the style of Albrecht Altdorfer perfectly, with the composition depicting his local nature environment in Bavaria and keeping human involvement to a minimum.

The only sign of humanity is the tiny cityscape which is carefully blended into the background, so as not to take too much of the focus away from the plentiful trees and shrubery which make up the rest of the scene. There is also a bright, uplifting sky which draws in light and allows us to appreciate the bright colours of the remaining additions.

The artist's use of clouds is immediately recognisable and was something of a brand within his oeuvre. His trees also display a clear influence from his local region. Rolling mountain tops can be seen in the far distance, with a small lake drifting besides and these features a common to his landscapes.

This small piece lacks quite the impact of some of his other works, and may have been used as a means to study and practice technique with regards these different features. There is not quite the same focal point as found elsewhere, with our eyes kept between two tall trees flanking either side, but left to ultimately wander within the area inside.

Format

This painting can be found in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich and is particularly small, measuring 30 cm × 22 cm (11.8 x 8.7 in). Whilst some small historic artworks have been cut out of larger originals, it is likely that this piece is entirely as intended by the artist, and that he simply wanted to work on a small panel, either to meet the needs of the donor or to complete the work relatively quickly.

Composition

Albrecht Altdorfer uses the common practice of sectioning off part of a view with elements in the foreground, in this case tall trees. This enabled him to provide a border to the left and right hand sides and then concentrate on why lied within. Most of his landscape paintings were vertically designed, where as his drawings for some reason were horizontal. The light in the background also helps to draw focus to the bare mountains to the left hand side, with foliage covering most of the rest.

Influence on Landscape Art

Some of what we see here is similar to the work of artists who followed on several centuries later, underlining the impact of Altdorfer. We can see the work of the Hudson River School, for example, even though their landcape paintings were produced across in North America. Without this German's contributions, landscape art may never have reached the point that it has today, so we have a lot to thank for his perserverance all those years ago.

Large Image

Danube Landscape near Regensburg with Scheuchenberg