Artwork
Laban divides the work
Laban divides the work is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem. It dates from 1643 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Overview
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem’s oil painting Laban divides the work was executed in 1643. The canvas depicts a pastoral scene set on a rocky hillside, populated by a small group of figures, livestock and a modest structure perched on a cliff. The work is part of the collection of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and exemplifies the Dutch Golden Age’s interest in landscape painting.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a man in a hat playing a flute, surrounded by seated and kneeling companions, while goats and sheep graze nearby. A solitary figure stands on a distant rock, suggesting a narrative moment drawn from biblical or mythological sources, typical of Berchem’s integration of human activity within an idealized rural setting.
Technique & Style
Berchem employs a chiaroscuro effect, contrasting illuminated figures against the dark, craggy terrain to create depth and three‑dimensionality. The handling of light on the foliage and sky, together with the soft rendering of the animals, reflects the Italianate influence that marked his second‑generation landscape approach, merging Dutch realism with classical atmospheric effects.
History & Provenance
Created during Berchem’s mature period, the painting entered the Alte Pinakothek’s holdings in the 19th century, where it has remained on public display. Its provenance traces back to private Dutch collections before being acquired by the museum, underscoring the work’s continued relevance to European art historical scholarship.
Context
Berchem belonged to the group of Dutch artists who traveled to Italy or studied Italian prints, incorporating ruins and Mediterranean light into their work. Laban divides the work illustrates this cross‑cultural exchange, situating a biblical‑type scene within a landscape that evokes the pastoral ideal popular among his contemporaries.
Artist & collection
Artist
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…
- Italian Scenery with Cattle
Family of Shepherds in a Mountainous Landscape
Abendlandschaft mit Vieh
Family of Shepherds in a Mountainous Landscape
Ruinen
Große Landschaft
Woman, Shepherd Boys, and Sheep near an Arch
Ideallandschaft
Landscape with Cattle, the Shepherdess Playing with a Dog
Shepherds and Cattle at he foot of Ruins
Landscape with Cattle, the Shepherdess Playing with a Dog
Cattle in a Southern Region