Scenes from a Legend

Giovanni Larciani (Master of the Kress Landscapes)

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a long, horizontal landscape viewed from an elevated angle. On the left, by a group of green trees and bushes, several people stand around one person who is on the back of a white horse. They wear garments in shades of light red, dark green, and pale yellow. In the distance behind them, a gray castle is visible, and farther away boats sail across green water near tree-covered hills. In the center of the painting is a collection of massive gray rocks. A small yellow tent is at the bottom of the rocks, with a group of small people sitting or standing around it. To the right of them, two deer drink from a small blue pool while a person in a gray shirt rests nearby, wrapped in a green cloth. On the right side of the painting, people walk down a long path that ends in a large gray castle or city in the top right corner. Some of the people hold long poles or weapons. The color palette is mostly earthy browns and greens, with dark green trees filling much of the background. The sky is visible in the left and right sections of the painting; it is a greenish blue near the top that fades into a light pink when it meets the distant green hills.