1659
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Animalia: Ram and Goat is a 1659 by Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This drawing shows a ram with thick, curly horns standing next to a smaller goat. They’re on a patchy, grassy hillside, with bushes and rocks around them. The lines are scratchy and detailed, especially around the animals’ fur and the texture of the ground. The artist focused on how light and shadow create depth, making the fur look shaggy and real. This kind of drawing was common in the 1600s for studying nature closely. Check out chiaroscuro to see how artists use light and dark to make scenes pop.
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.
See the richer artist page
