with inscription ‘Roland Rooghman’ (on an old strip of paper fixed to the verso of the sheet)
black chalk, grey wash, indented for transfer, blackened for transfer (verso)
11 x 15.8 cm

This drawing is one of a substantial group of drawings by Roelant Roghman showing mountainous
landscapes. Although little documentary evidence of the artist’s travels through such landscapes
has survived, several drawings of mountainous landscapes in Germany do confirm that the artist
did travel through the Alps. [1] One of these sheets, which shows a traveller with his dog in a dramatic
mountainous landscape, is in the Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo. [2] That drawing served as the design
for an etching, in reverse, from the series Eight Tirolian Landscapes. [3] The present drawing can be
closely compared to the sheet in Oslo in terms of size, subject matter and execution. Both drawings
show a mountainous landscape with elongated figures in the foreground, clusters of abbreviated
trees in the distance, long trees with feathery leaves functioning as a repoussoir on the sides and
delicately drawn mountains in the background. The lavish use of loosely applied wash, furthermore,
is also closely comparable.

While the present sheet does not appear to have been engraved, the blackening on its verso and
the delicately indented outlines in part of the drawing do suggest that it was at least intended to
be engraved. Interestingly, the sheet can be loosely compared to another etching from the Eight
Tirolian Landscapes, showing a similar mountainous river landscape.

[1] W.T. Kloek, De kasteeltekeningen van Roelant Roghman, II, Alphen aan den Rijn, 1990, p. 30, fig. 42.
[2] Inv. NG.K&H.B.15802; W.T Kloek, op. cit., pp. 30-31, fig. 45.
[3] See Hollstein (Roghman) 32.