(Breda 1553/54–1626 Rome)
A coastal view with a large ship being repaired,
oil on canvas, 128 x 200 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, France;
sale, Piasa, Paris, 29 June 2012, lot 36;
Galerie Lowet de Wotrenge, Antwerp;
Private Collection, Antwerp;
Private European collection

Luuk Pijl has confirmed the authenticity of the present painting, which he is going to include in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné. The painting comes with a certificate (May 2012).

Luuk Pijl sees a close stylistic relationship between the present composition and four further coastal landscapes by Bril preserved in the Ambrosiana in Milan, the Uffizi in Florence, the Galleria Borghese in Rome, and the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. While in his early period Bril exclusively populated his coastal landscapes with mythological or biblical figures, around 1600 he took to depicting travellers or fishermen repairing their boats. Unfortunately, it is not known who commissioned the present painting. That its patron might have been the owner of a shipyard is suggested by the accuracy with which the artist has depicted the technical details of the ship to be repaired. Due to its dimensions, the composition can be categorised as a masterpiece from Bril’s late period. Pijl dates the work to the years 1610–1615.

There can be no doubt about the great impact of Bril’s late harbour scenes on such painters as Agostino Tassi and Claude Lorrain. As a landscapist, he was the most important predecessor of Claude Lorrain, whose paintings were stylistically indebted to his.