Artwork
The Apulian Shepherd
The Apulian Shepherd is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Joachim Wtewael. It dates from 1603 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
About this work
Technique & Style
The Apulian Shepherd is an oil painting on canvas by Joachim Wtewael, dated 1603. Classified as a landscape, the work belongs to the genre of landscape painting and is held in the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, with its location listed at the Yale University Art Gallery. The subjects depicted include a man and a woman within the landscape setting.
History & Provenance
The painting is housed in the Yale University Art Gallery as part of the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
Joachim Wtewael painted The Apulian Shepherd in 1603, an oil on canvas work depicting a man and a woman. The painting entered the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston through the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection and is presently held at the Yale University Art Gallery. Its inception is recorded as 1603, aligning with the artist’s documented date for the work.
The painting is housed in the Yale University Art Gallery as part of the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
It was created in 1603 by Joachim Wtewael and is cataloged under the accession number 1984.576.
The work has been exhibited at the Yale University Art Gallery and was included in the 1997 exhibition "Dutch and Flemish Painting in the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection" at the same institution.
Overview
Created in 1603, The Apulian Shepherd is an oil painting by Dutch artist Joachim Wtewael. The work presents a densely wooded setting populated by a small group of figures and animals, arranged in a theatrical composition that combines landscape and genre elements. It is part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s collection.
Subject & Meaning
The scene depicts a man in a red garment perched on a rock, reaching toward a tree branch, while partially clothed women dance and play music nearby. A seated male figure holds a lyre, and a goat and dog wander through the undergrowth. The gathering suggests a pastoral idyll, possibly alluding to mythic or shepherd motifs common in early‑Baroque narratives.
Artist & collection
Artist
Joachim Anthoniszoon Wtewael (Dutch pronunciation:; 1566 – 1 August 1638), also known as Uytewael (pronounced ), was a Dutch Mannerist painter and draughtsman, as well as a highly successful flax merchant, and town councillor of Utrecht.
