From Ovid's Metamorphoses, II.

Tobias Verhaecht (1561–1631) was a Flemish painter, best known for his fantastic landscape scenes, often filled with dramatic mountains, winding rivers, and imaginative vistas. He was born in Antwerp and worked during the late Renaissance, a period when artists in Flanders often combined observation of nature with ideas from Italian and German landscape traditions.

Verhaecht was particularly influenced by Italian “Weltlandschaften” – expansive, idealised landscapes with small human figures that animate the scenes. His paintings are characterised by meticulous detail, symmetrical compositions, and an almost mythical atmosphere. The mountains are often exaggerated in proportion, creating a dreamlike, almost theatrical impression, while rivers and paths lead the eye deep into the picture.