A Mountainous Landscape with a Waterfall

Kerstiaen de Keuninck

Oil on wood panel

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Towering crags and a cascading waterfall dominate this dramatic Flemish landscape, where golden light breaks through swirling clouds to illuminate a winding valley path below. De Keuninck, a Bruges-born master active in Antwerp, built his composition from imaginative, stacked rock formations rather than observed nature, a hallmark of the Flemish fantasy landscape tradition. Tiny figures and birds animate the scene, emphasizing the sublime scale of the wilderness against human presence. This richly atmospheric panel would bring the moody grandeur of early Baroque landscape painting into any room, rewarding long contemplation with its layered detail and luminous sky.