Cornelis Gerritsz Decker (ca. 1615-1678) - Attributed, Landscape with an Oak Tree

Decker became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in Haarlem in 1643, and in 1646 he became a student of Salomon van Ruysdael.
He belonged to the Haarlem landscape painters, such as Roelof Jansz van Vries and Gillis Rombouts. The subjects of their paintings were gnarled trees, and picturesque houses and buildings in wooded, hilly landscapes.
The central place in the composition is occupied by a crooked oak on the edge of the road. Right
of the tree, a low wooden house with a thatched roof is inserted into the terrain. The perspective is typical of the Haarlem landscape of this period.
The view to the left leads across a field where a church can be seen in the distance, the nave of which is in ruins, while the chancel and towers are intact. Above the landscape stretches a high sky with white and gray clouds.
, Oil on wood, 23.5 x 29 cm