Mill on the rock

The scene of painting Turkish Burial in a Landscape shows a burial procession heading for a Turkish burial ground. The pendant painting Mill on the Rock depicts a ruined mill, in front of which a Turkish couple is dancing. The choice of Turkish themes at the time reflected the siege of Vienna by the Turks (1683), the Turkish raids in Central and Eastern Europe, and the continuous presence of many years of Turkish culture in Europe. The group of paintings with Oriental scenes are dated to the first half of the 1690s - therefore into the time before Agricola’s departure for Italy.