Pastoral Landscape

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Pastoral Landscape

Artist Nicolaes Berchem the Elder (Dutch, 1620-1683)

Place of OriginNetherlands

Date1649

DimensionsH: 27 1/2 in. (69.9 cm); W: 32 7/8 in. (84 cm)

MediumOil on wood panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1955.82

Not on View

Label TextWhile depictions of landscape scenes that were quintessentially Dutch—flat fields dotted with canals and windmills, low horizons and endless skies—became very popular in The Netherlands in the 1600s, a more fanciful, romantic genre inspired by the Italian landscape was also widely collected by Dutch art lovers. These paintings often featured rugged mountainous scenes peopled by travelers or idealized peasants occupied by rustic pursuits. Haarlem artist Nicolaes Berchem specialized in such scenes. He traveled to Rome in 1642 or 43, staying until 1645. This extended visit deeply influenced his style. His pictures are mostly Italianate landscapes seen through a golden haze. In this painting Berchem populates the dramatic landscape with cattle and goats, a shepherdess milking a cow while it’s held steady by a pointing shepherd in ragged clothing, and a second woman taking a break from spinning wool (look for the distaff lying near a large water jug) to cradle a small child.Published ReferencesRoberts, W., Memorials of Christie's (1766-1896), London, I, 1897, p. 193.

Hofstede de Groot, C., A Catalogue Raisonne of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith, London, IX, no. 225a (as perhaps identical with no. 227a).

Lawson, E. P., "Dutch Painters in Italy," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 1, no. 3, Fall 1957, pp. 11-15, repr. p. 12.

Schaar, E., Studien zu Nicolas Berchem, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Cologne University, 1958, p. 27.

Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, "Details, European Paintings," vol. 4, no. 1, Winter 1961, p. 18.

Stechow, W., "Über das Verhältnis zwischen Signatur und Chronologie bei einigen holländischen Künstlern des 17. Jahrhunderts," Festschrift für Dr. h.c. Eduard Trautscholdt, Hamburg, 1965, p. 114, fig. 62 (det.).

Wittmann, Otto, "The Golden Age in the Netherlands," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, December 1967, p. 477, repr. fig. 24.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 22, pl. 117.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 53.

Kuretsky, Susan Donahue, The paintings of Jacob Ochtervelt, Montclair, N.J., 1979, p. 10-11, repr. fig. 21, p. 111.

Sutton, Peter, Pieter de Hooch: complete edition, Oxford, 1980, p. 11, repr., fig. 1.

Great Dutch Paintings from America, The Hague, 1990, p. 106.