Artists: Jan Brueghel the Younger (1601–1678)
Joos de Momper the Younger (1564–1635)
Title: Grotto Landscape with a Hermitage
Date: between 1625 and 1630
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: height: 56 cm (22 in); width: 99 cm (38.9 in)
Collection: Private collection
What I love about this painting:
On the surface, while it’s definitely a masterpiece, the subject is one that was done in various ways by nearly every artist of their day. Works like this sold well, as it was the fashion for every upper middleclass merchant to own paintings by the popular artists of their day. The most prolific artists and their workshops chugged paintings out like bakers turning out hot bread.
In most of these workshops, certain aspects were done by the hand of the master, while apprentices and journeymen did the bulk of the work under the master’s guidance. That was how young artists learned the craft. The masters reserved their finest works for their noble patrons, and these were completely done by their own hand.
Two masters created this painting. Joos de Momper II painted the landscape, and Jan Brueghel II did the staffage (people and animals). The two artists often worked together. Both were exceptionally good at what they did, and both made a good living from their art.
The casual observer might think there isn’t much of a story, as it’s a genre painting of people on a religious pilgrimage.
But the people are where the story lies. Why are they seeking wisdom here? What has happened that they would leave their farms and shops to visit him? Why do they not seek advice from their priest?
The artists show us a hermit [Hermit – Wikipedia], a man who has chosen a life of poverty and religious seclusion.
I see many ways a story could go here. The hermit intrigues me. Why does an educated man choose to leave the comforts of civilization and live in such a rickety shack with only a dog for companionship? (A good choice of friends, in my opinion.)
I wonder what sort of person he was. Was he a kind man who wanted to be closer to nature?
Or perhaps he had made bad business investments and lost everything. Was he bitter about his place in the world? Was he truly a humble person, or was this his personal punishment? What wisdom did he have to offer those who visited him?
I like to think he was a kind person who just wanted to be alone with his dog and his books, and while I don’t have a dog, I often feel the same way.
About this painting via Wikipedia:
Untouched nature is the dominant theme of the right half of the painting, religion occupies the left half of the picture. The hermit set up an altar with a painting of crowned Mary on it. The painting juxtaposes religion and nature as well as civilization on the one hand (church in the background, elegantly dressed walkers) and untouched nature (crane, waterfall) on the other. [1]
To read more about this painting, go to Grotto Landscape with a Hermitage – Wikipedia
About the artists via Wikipedia:
In Flemish painting of the late 16th and early 17th centuries there was often joint work by different painters. The painters specialized in a certain area, such as landscape or figures. The painting “Grotto landscape with hermitage” is an example of the collaboration: while Brughel painted the figures and animals, Joos de Momper the grotto and the landscape. This division of labor approach was quite common among painters at that time.
Joos de Momper the Younger (1564-1635) was a Flemish landscape painter. His landscape depictions show the transition from the Mannerist world landscape to the naturalistic Dutch landscape painting of the 17th century.
Jan Brueghel the Younger (1601–1678) was a Flemish landscape, flower and animal painter from the most important Flemish painting dynasty, the Brueghel family. He was the grandson of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and son of Jan Brueghel the Elder.
Both Joos de Momper and Jan Brueghel grew up in Antwerp and were members of the Guild of Saint Luke, a guild-like brotherhood of painters and printers. Both painters also came from important families of painters. Joos de Momper often worked with Jan Brueghel the Elder and Jan Brueghel the Younger.
Grotto painting as a genre
De Momper is considered to be the most important exponent of grotto painting: These are paintings in which a rock grotto or cave is the focus of the painting. The caves are refuge for hermits, serve as a place of pilgrimage (as in this painting) or serve as the background of a mythological story. Further representatives of grotto painting are Cornelis van Dalem (approx. 1530–1573), Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568–1625) and Paul Bril (approx. 1553–1626). Another grotto landscape by Joos de Momper and Jan Brueghel the Elder is in the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, also here with a reading hermit.
De Momper’s name was so closely linked to rock and mountain landscapes that he was named Judocus de Momper Pictor montium Antwerpiae (Joos de Momper, Antwerp, Painter of mountains) in the then very well-known Iconography, a series of pictures by well-known painters after Anthony van Dyck.
To read more about these artists, go to:
Jan Brueghel the Younger – Wikipedia
Credits and Attributions:
IMAGE: Grotto Landscape with a Hermitage by Jan Brueghel II and Joos de Momper II
[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Grotto Landscape with a Hermitage,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grotto_Landscape_with_a_Hermitage&oldid=1299616328 (accessed July 31, 2025).
[2] Jan Brueghel the Younger – Jan Brueghel the Younger – Wikipedia
[3] Joos de Momper the Younger – Joos de Momper – Wikipedia
Life in the Realm of Fantasy 
The juxtaposition of color in the two scenes is what grabs me the most. I am definitely drawn more to being outside than inside to what feels like a cave.
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Hello Alethea! the way the cave frames the world outside is really well done. I’m not sure I would want to live in a cave, but it does shelter his shack from the weather. I know people would bring hermits food occasionally, and he was probably good at foraging. I love the detail that de Momper puts into the landscape. the other thing I like is that the altar is so important to him that he built the shack to protect it.
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