Nature has always been an artist’s greatest muse, and when combined with human love, as in the High Middle German poem “Unter der linden grüne” (“Under the Linden Green,” ca. 1200), we have perfection. The poem was paired with an old French melody and became quite popular during the Renaissance period. Jan Both’s Italian "Landscape with Horsemen" (17th century) focuses more on the tree than the horsemen. Perhaps both artists were observing that all of life exists within the context of trees and nature

Artwork:

Jan Both

Italian Landscape with Horsemen, 17th century

Oil on canvas, 381 3/16 x 38 1/16 in. (968.2 x 96.7 cm)

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Memorial gift from Dr. T. Edward and Tullah Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania, 69.30.216

Photograph courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Composition: Jan P. Sweelinck (1562 - 1621), Onder een linde groen (variations)