1652
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Herd Crossing the Brook is a 1652 ink by Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a group of people herding cattle across a shallow stream. The animals are thick-necked and shaggy, some splashing through the water while others stand on the bank. One person in a wide-brimmed hat guides them with a long stick, while another person in the water holds onto a rope tied to a bull. The scene looks busy but calm, like a moment frozen in daily life. The artist used fine lines to show texture in the animals’ fur and the water’s movement. Next, check out etching to see how artists like this one create detailed prints.
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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