Pastoral Scene with a Shepherdess Milking a Goat
c. 1665–c. 1670
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
24.8 × 31.1 cm (9 1/4 × 12 1/4 in.); Framed: 40 × 46.7 × 4.5 cm (15 3/4 × 18 3/8 × 1 3/4 in.)
Classification
oil on panel
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
214269
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
One of the most prolific Dutch landscape painters, Nicolas Pietersz. Berchem executed scenes of the Italian campagna (countryside) for cosmopolitan collectors who appreciated foreign views. Against the muddy palette used for the livestock, Berchem highlighted the shepherdess’s skirt with a vibrant blue, a color that attracts the eye of the viewer and of the young shepherd nearby. Alongside paintings of the flat but fertile Dutch landscape, collectors enjoyed fanciful depictions of Italy for thei...