Artwork
Landscape with Herdsmen and Satan Sowing Darnel
Landscape with Herdsmen and Satan Sowing Darnel is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Abraham Bloemaert. It dates from 1604 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a pastoral landscape in which the biblical Parable of the Tares is enacted, with Satan sowing darnel among the wheat while herdsmen and shepherds occupy the surrounding countryside. The composition joins a religious narrative with everyday rural life, showing a sower at work alongside shepherds and their flocks, with a figure resting or sleeping nearby. By embedding the parable within an ordinary Dutch-style landscape, the work visualizes the Gospel teaching that an enemy plants weeds among the good seed while people sleep, a story of mingled good and evil awaiting final judgment.
The blending of genre landscape and religious subject reflects Bloemaert's treatment of moral and scriptural themes through naturalistic scenery, presenting spiritual meaning through the familiar rhythms of pastoral labor.
Technique & Style
Its support consists of a canvas substrate, and the paint medium is oil, as recorded in the documentary sources.
The work is an oil painting on canvas created in 1604 in the Netherlands. Its support consists of a canvas substrate, and the paint medium is oil, as recorded in the documentary sources. The composition portrays a landscape that incorporates figures of a sower, shepherd and a sleeping man, illustrating the Parable of the Tares, a biblical theme reflected in its genre of landscape and religious art.
The painting measures 47.5 cm by 62.5 cm and exemplifies early seventeenth‑century Dutch naturalistic treatment of space and light.
History & Provenance
Landscape with Herdsmen and Satan Sowing Darnel was created in 1604 by Abraham Bloemaert in the Netherlands. The painting, executed in oil on canvas, measures 47.5 cm in height and 62.5 cm in width. Its inception is firmly dated to this year, reflecting Bloemaert’s engagement with both landscape and religious themes during the early 17th century.
The work has been part of the Hermitage Museum’s collection, where it is currently housed. No documented commission or early ownership history preceding its acquisition by the museum is recorded in available sources.
Overview
Abraham Bloemaert's Landscape with Herdsmen and Satan Sowing Darnel, painted in 1604, is an oil work that blends a serene rural setting with a narrative drawn from biblical scripture. This painting exemplifies the Dutch artist's engagement with both landscape and history subjects during the early 17th century. It is currently housed in the State Hermitage Museum, representing a significant piece from his mature period.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Abraham Bloemaert (25 December 1566 – 27 January 1651) was a Dutch painter and printmaker who used etching and engraving.
