Artwork
Abendlandschaft mit Schafen, Ziegen und Hirtin
Abendlandschaft mit Schafen, Ziegen und Hirtin is an unspecified painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jacob van der Does. It dates from 1656 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Overview
Jacob van der Does painted *Abendlandschaft mit Schafen, Ziegen und Hirtin* in 1656. The canvas presents an evening countryside scene in which a shepherdess stands beside a tree, cradling a lamb while sheep and goats graze nearby. Soft, rolling hills rise behind a cloud‑filled sky, creating a tranquil, low‑light atmosphere characteristic of mid‑seventeenth‑century Dutch landscape art.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a solitary woman in a dark dress and hat, embodying the pastoral ideal of a harmonious relationship between humans and livestock. By placing the shepherdess amid calmly feeding animals, the work underscores themes of rural simplicity and the peaceful rhythm of agrarian life that were popular in Dutch genre painting.
Technique & Style
Van der Does employs a warm palette of earth tones, applying gentle brushwork to render the sky, foliage, and animal fur with a softened clarity. The gradual modulation of light across the hills and the subtle atmospheric perspective convey depth while maintaining the intimate, almost anecdotal quality typical of his detailed pastoral scenes.
History & Provenance
The painting has been part of the Alte Pinakothek’s collection in Munich, where it is displayed among other works of the Dutch Golden Age. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s focus on gathering representative examples of 17th‑century Northern European landscape painting, preserving van der Does’s contribution to the genre.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jacob van der Does (4 March 1623 in Amsterdam – buried 17 November 1673 in Sloten) was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter.
