Landscape with a Fish Market and a Sea Bay

Depicting a lordly visit to a fish market, this landscape is a version of the same subject from the Museo Borgogna in Vercelli (Italy). Its attractiveness derives from an impressive arrangement of lit and overshadowed areas, brightened tonality, and a vivid modelling of the staffage. In view of the fact that the Vercelli painting, representing the Allegory of Water, is part of the cycle of Four Elements, it is to be supposed that the Prague version was part of a similar series. Cycles representing elements were obviously in great demand by collectors, and we can find them in varied versions in the Hartmann production.