A Dutch painter, he moved to London, where he executed numerous small Rhineland views, as can be seen in this work, where the finish and miniature-like detail is enhanced by the artist’s use of a copper support. Here he depicts an imaginary panorama, with a broad river valley spread out before the viewer from a high vantage point. Bare, rugged mountains rise on the far side of the river, while on the near side, village houses nestle among trees on a hillside that slopes gently to the valley floor where the turrets of a walled city and a castle can be seen. The riverbank below is teeming with activity: a variety of river craft is moored alongside and a crowd has gathered nearby before a cluster of tents and other temporary structures. A flag is flying: a country fair, or kermis, is evidently underway. In the left foreground, festival goers climb a steep escarpment to the local hostelry which is clearly doing a bustling trade. (The nearby shed almost appears to recall a nativity scene, although that is unclear even on close examination). Griffier also seems to have been peripatetic (Horace Walpole suggested that he had his own yacht in which he travelled while sketching the scenery). To judge from his surviving views, was acquainted with many of the main British cities, including London, Windsor, Oxford and Gloucester. His English views provide valuable early evidence of British topography at a date when surprisingly little visual information survives. Their style is much broader and the brushwork more cursory, however, than his Rhineland works.
