The Salzach Valley with a View of the Watzmann Massif in the Background ca. 1595-1600 Frederik van Valkenborch Netherlandish After having travelled through Italy between 1590 and 1596, the Antwerp born artist Frederik van Valckenborg ventured to Austria, Bavaria and the Danube region. Along the way, Van Valckenborg recorded the imposing landscapes he encountered in several sketchbooks. These panoramic views are often topographically accurate, and their realism forms a distinct break with the fantastical mannerist tradition of the late sixteenth-century. The approach and style of Van Valckeborch's sketchbook drawings was clearly determined by the desire to record visible reality as accurately as possible. They attest to a general, growing interest in nature, due perhaps to artistss extensive travels and the discovery of new scenery.[1Van Valckenborg drew in short, carefully placed pen and gray ink lines, without an underdrawing in black chalk. Curved, parallel hatches were used to ind