1640
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Ewe Nursing Her Lamb is a 1640 ink by Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a mother sheep bending down to nurse her two lambs in a patch of grass. The lines are rough and busy, making the fur look textured. The sheep’s head is turned slightly, and the lambs huddle close under her belly. The artist focused on the bond between the animals, showing how the lambs rely on their mother. This kind of drawing was common in the Renaissance, where artists studied nature closely. Next, look up etching to see how this printmaking technique works.
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 – 18 February 1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre pieces.
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