Jan Hackaert Amsterdam 1628 - after 1685

This drawing is one of a number that Hackaert made during his lengthy Swiss journey of 1653-56 (see Gustav Solar, Jan Hackaert, Die schweizer Ansichten 1653-1656, Zürich 1981 for further information).  Many of these drawings are signed with initials, and some, including the present work, carry inscriptions in the artist's hand, idenitfying the views depicted.

The route that Hackaert followed on his travels can be largely reconstructed on the basis of his liber amicorum covering the period 1653-8, which is preserved in the collection of the Koninglijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap, Amsterdam (inv. no. 1954/55:28). From this evidence, we know that the artist visited Glarus during the first two weeks of June 1655, and since this is clearly a drawing made on the spot, it must date from that two-week period. Hackaert also made a large, panoramic view of the entire valley, probably executed somewhat later in the studio, which is included in the Atlas van der Hem, in the Royal Library, Vienna (see Solar, op. cit., pp. 38-9, plate 10).