Artwork
A Horse Drinking
A Horse Drinking is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jan Both. It dates from 1637 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Jan Both's 1637 oil painting, A Horse Drinking, is a landscape work that centers on a pastoral scene featuring a horse and a man.
Jan Both's 1637 oil painting, A Horse Drinking, is a landscape work that centers on a pastoral scene featuring a horse and a man. The composition depicts the animal at a spring, situated within a setting that includes a cave. While the work is classified as a landscape, the specific inclusion of the human figure alongside the horse and the natural elements of the spring and cave defines the narrative focus of the piece.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 28.6 cm in height by 22.7 cm in width, created in 1637. Executed in the Dutch Baroque manner, it depicts a horse drinking at a spring within a rocky landscape, showcasing careful handling of light and atmospheric depth. The composition balances naturalistic detail with a poetic sense of space, typical of the artist's idealized pastoral scenes.
The surface retains its original oil paint layering, with no significant degradation noted in the cited provenance, indicating stable condition and faithful preservation of the artist's technique.
History & Provenance
The painting A Horse Drinking by Jan Both is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland, where it is recorded under the accession number NGI.247. It has been part of the gallery's exhibition schedule, appearing in displays focused on Dutch and Flemish landscape painting.
The work was created in 1637 and entered the National Gallery of Ireland's collection, which acquired it as part of a distinguished group of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings. Its physical dimensions are 28.6 cm in height and 22.7 cm in width, consistent with the recorded measurements of the piece.
Overview
Jan Both’s oil painting, dated 1637, portrays a tranquil rural scene in which a rider in a red vest and black trousers stands beside a white horse drinking from a stone trough. The animal is positioned before a cavern, while a darker horse appears faintly in the distance, all set beneath a sky dotted with light clouds.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Jan Dirksz Both was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher, who made an important contribution to the development of Dutch Italianate landscape painting.
