Flemish Market and Washing Place explained

Flemish Market and Washing Place
Artist:Joos de Momper
Year:ca. 1620
Medium:Oil on canvas
Catalogue:P001443
Height Metric:166[1]
Width Metric:194
Height Imperial:65.3
Width Imperial:76.3
Metric Unit:cm
Imperial Unit:in
City:Madrid
Museum:Museum of Prado

Flemish Market and Washing Place is an oil-on-canvas painting by Flemish painter Joos de Momper. It was painted in the 1620s, and it might be a collaboration between de Momper and Jan Brueghel the Elder[2] [3] [4]

Painting

The painting is a blend of landscape painting and genre painting. It shows a scene of rural life typical of Flanders. The people are spreading cloth on a bleachfield, an open area used for spreading woven fabrics on the ground, in order to purify and whiten them by the action of the sunlight.

Bleachfields were also common in northern England, whereto the Flemings migrated in large numbers throughout the medieval and early modern periods;[5] for instance, the name of the town of Whitefield, on the outskirts of Manchester, is thought to derive from the medieval bleachfields used by Flemish settlers.

To the left, the painting depicts a bustling town market. There is a pleasant contrast between the animated, hectic market and the placid bleachfield; as well as between the former and the elevated sky.[2]

The painting is currently housed at the Museum of Prado, in Madrid. It has been part of the Royal Collection since at least the early 18th century, when it was housed at the Zarzuela Palace.[2]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Flemish Market and Washing Place . Web Gallery of Art. 22 September 2020.
  2. Web site: Market and Washing Place in Flanders . Museum of Prado. 22 September 2020.
  3. Book: Barbara Baert . Traninger Anita . Catrien Santing . Disembodied Heads in Medieval and Early Modern Culture. 2013. University of Michigan
    Brill
    . 257. 978-90-04-25355-1.
  4. Web site: Momper II, Joost de . Museum of Prado. 22 September 2020.
  5. Web site: Scotland and the Flemish People . University of St Andrews. 22 September 2020.