Landscape with a falcon hunt, attributed to Anton Mirou (1570-1621)

Attributed to Anton Mirou (Antwerp, 1570-1621/1627)
Landscape with a falcon hunt
Early 17th century

Oil on copper: h. 21 cm, w. 29 cm
Ebonized wood frame with large mouldings, with inverted profile
Framed dimensions: h. 47.5 cm, w. 53.5 cm

Our painting illustrates a falcon hunt taking place in an undergrowth dominated by tall trees with dense foliage.
The scene is very lively and is mainly read in the foreground: a pair of aristocrats mounted on horseback, wearing feather hats and sumptuously dressed, participate in the falcon hunt accompanied by their servants.
The elegant rider, falcon in hand, looks up, staring at a heron flitting in the sky, while his falcon prepares to pounce on its prey.
Around the couple, the hunting assistants are busy around several falcons wearing red hoods.
The rearing horses, the dogs bustling around the riders, the running servant, all these elements create a frenetic atmosphere. This human effervescence contrasts with the soothing tranquility of the forest where we see the birds flitting, the doe frolicking, like two separate universes. The waterfall that flows into the small pond reflects the blue color of the sky, ducks sail without worrying about the presence of hunters.
To bring depth to the composition, the painter leaves a narrow opening towards the distant horizon. Thus the viewer's gaze can escape towards the misty background.
The composition of our forest landscape with lush vegetation directs us towards the Frankenthal school and more particularly the painter Anton Mirou. Greatly influenced by Gillis Van Coninxloo (1544-1607), leader of the Frankenthal school, the artist frequently indulges in the new technique, which emerged in the 1600s consisting of using close-ups, focusing more on the woods and trees in the foreground, reducing the space devoted to the sky and extending to three-quarters of the composition the space occupied by the trees.

Related works:
• Anton Mirou, Landscape with Walkers, oil on copper, h. 25 cm, w. 34 cm, Sotheby's London, 03/07/2013, lot no. 6
• Anton Mirou, Landscape with Hunters, oil on copper, h. 22 cm, w. 29 cm, Dorotheum, 14/04/2005, lot 84
• Anton Mirou, Landscape with Hunters, oil on panel, h. 31.5 cm, w. 40.2 cm, Friedenstein Castle, Gotha, Germany, inv. SG 704
• Anton Mirou, Landscape with hunters, oil on copper, h. 25.5 cm, w. 33 cm, Historical Museum of the Palatinate, Spire, Germany

Anton Mirou (Antwerp, 1570-1621/1627)
Antoine, or Anton Mirou, born around 1570 in Antwerp, where he died shortly after 1621, was a Flemish painter of the Baroque period, active in Frankenthal, Germany.
His parents, the pharmacist Hendrik Mirou and his first wife, settled in Frankenthal in 1586. They were among the Calvinist emigrants who fled the Netherlands from 1562 onwards to seek the protection of Prince Palatine Frederick III. Anton Mirou belonged to the important school of landscape painters led by Gillis van Coninxloo, who exerted his greatest influence on the painter, along with Pieter Schoubroeck. In his landscapes, he followed Coninxloo's compositional scheme, through the theory of three colors: brown in the foreground, green in the middle planes and blue in the background. But Coninxloo's influence extends to the use of details similar to the master's: fortifications, waterfalls, bridges, and hunting motifs appear frequently in the work of both. Schoubroeck's influence is most evident in the depictions of peasant villages, with similar elements in both artists: lively country lanes with peasant figures and hills in the background. Some of his works are also reminiscent of the work of Jan Brueghel the Elder, particularly in the use of greens and blues and the precision of the details. He probably returned to Antwerp around 1621, where he died a few years later (between 1621 and 1627).