Flemish School, early 17th century

Panel is uncradled, flat and stable. under a slightly dirty varnish. overall the paint surface has been well retained. there is a tiny gouge with paint loss in waterfall at center right. under UV: it is hard to read through the old varnish. there are some retouches in sky; landscape generally looks good but it is difficult to tell and there could be some retouches under the old varnish. painting would probably benefit from a light cleaning. Offered in a carved and painted wood frame with a green velvet liner.
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The hilly landscape which comprises the composition of this anonymous Flemish canvas has been designed to depict a human face. The curved grouping of homes in the center middle-ground is the nose. The use of anthropomorphic designs in landscape painting was popularized in part by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and before him Hieronymous Bosch,  both of whom used fantastical imagery of human faces interspliced into landscape scenery. More contemporary with the present example are pictures by Joos de Momper, which like the present example, form a face from realistic landscape elements (see for example P. Hulten, The Arcimboldo Effect: Transformations of the Face From the 16th to the 20th Century, New York 1987, pp. 191-2).