3-097-500 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Excursion in the Countryside of Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, 1600-1625. Alternative title: Isabel Clara Eugenia's Country Excursion. The painting depicts the Archduchess in the gardens of her summer palace, Mariemont, south of Brussels. In the foreground, Isabella Clara Eugenia and others are shown cutting hay and loading it onto a cart. In the background are the palace's extensive gardens. The palace is visible in the upper right corner. We can tell by their ruffs and expensive clothes that these are rich people enjoying a day outdoors in the countryside: engaging in peasant activities is an allegory of their appreciation for country life. The Archduchess's enthusiasm and fondness for this lifestyle are evident in her correspondence...: "Exercise and time spent in the countryside enrich all of life". As the daughter of Philip II, she had received an education related to hunting and outdoor excursions, so her presence in these kinds of settings is not surprising. This work is considered a collaboration between Jan Brueghel the Elder, who is believed to have painted the figures, and Joost de Momper, who painted the landscape.