Animals in Landscapes: Donkeys
1638
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1638
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Herman van Swanevelt painted two donkeys standing in a Dutch field. One donkey faces us, the other looks away. Green grass and a low horizon fill the scene. The light here feels soft, like late afternoon. The donkeys aren’t fancy—they’re just everyday farm animals. Their coats have rough texture, not smoothed over. This style reminds me of Paul Bril, an earlier Dutch landscape painter. See more of Bril’s work at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
