Oil on canvas, 71cm by 74cm.
Written on the reverse of the painting, in the very distinctive hand of Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793), are the words: ‘View in Switzerland, painted by Gerard Edema.’
The 1763 Burghley Inventory records: ‘Breakfast room … Mont Blanc in Switzerland by Edema.’
Allaert van Everdingen trained in Utrecht with the artist Roelandt Savery (1576-1639).
However, his work was later much influenced by a visit to Norway and Sweden, where he discovered landscapes in complete contrast to those of his native Holland.
Gerard Edema (c.1652- c.1700) was a pupil of Everdingen, who, like his master, painted wild and savage landscapes.
He also travelled to Norway, and then much further afield, in search of unknown and exotic scenery and subject matter.
