Artwork
Shepherds and Sheep
Shepherds and Sheep is an oil painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist David Teniers the Younger. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition emphasizes the everyday pastoral setting typical of 17th-century genre works, presenting the shepherd as the central figure overseeing his herd.
The painting Shepherds and Sheep, executed by David Teniers the Younger around 1650, portrays a shepherd attending a flock that includes sheep, a goat and a dog within a rural landscape. The composition emphasizes the everyday pastoral setting typical of 17th-century genre works, presenting the shepherd as the central figure overseeing his herd. The inclusion of a dog and a goat alongside the sheep underscores the domestic animal presence often associated with shepherding scenes.
The work is an oil on panel measuring 16.8 × 22.9 cm and entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the bequest of Henry Gurdon Marquand.
Technique & Style
Shepherds and Sheep is executed in oil paint on a wooden panel, measuring approximately 16.8 cm by 22.9 cm, which places it within the small-scale landscape tradition. The work is classified as a landscape painting and depicts a shepherd, sheep, a dog, and a goat in a rural setting. While the sources confirm the medium, support, dimensions, and genre, they do not provide details about the artist's handling of paint, surface condition, or specific stylistic characteristics beyond its classification.
History & Provenance
Shepherds and Sheep by the Flemish painter David Teniers the Younger is dated to circa 1650 based on stylistic and technical analysis recorded in the Metropolitan Museum's records. Before entering the museum, the painting was held in the collection of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough, and later George Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough, indicating a transfer within the Marlborough family. It then passed to Henry Gurdon Marquand and entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art through his bequest in 1890.
The provenance thus traces from the artist's studio in the mid-seventeenth century through aristocratic British collections to its institutional home in New York. No specific accession number or exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.
Legacy
The 1650 oil painting Shepherds and Sheep exemplifies David Teniers the Younger's skill in genre scenes and small-scale landscape composition. Its inclusion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its prior ownership by Henry Gurdon Marquand and the Dukes of Marlborough reflect its standing among collectors. The work remains a reference point for studies of seventeenth-century Flemish pastoral imagery.
Overview
Titled "Shepherds and Sheep," this oil painting presents a serene pastoral tableau. It depicts figures tending to their flock within a verdant, wooded landscape, evoking a profound sense of tranquility and harmony. The composition foregrounds the human and animal subjects, while a distant house and trees recede into the background beneath an expansive, cloudy sky, contributing to the overall peaceful atmosphere.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, and artist.
Mowing and Shearing, or The Summer
Jacob at the Well (In the background: Jakob's dream of the heavenly ladder)
Jacob en el pozo
Peasants conversing
A Peasant Driving Cattle, Sheep and Goats in a Landscape
Italian landscape with sheperdess and flocks
Landscape with a rainbow
Landschaft mit Hirtin und Herde
Landscape with Milkmaid and Shepherd