Artwork
Landscape with Two Horses
Landscape with Two Horses is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
These components combine to create a serene rural setting rather than a narrative or allegorical scene with complex symbolic meaning.
The work depicts a pastoral landscape scene centered on two horses, consistent with the artist's focus on animal art. Alongside the equine figures, the composition includes natural elements such as trees, the sky, clouds, and birds. These components combine to create a serene rural setting rather than a narrative or allegorical scene with complex symbolic meaning.
The depiction emphasizes the animals within their environment, highlighting the harmony between the creatures and the natural world.
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil on panel, employing a wood support typical of 17th-century Dutch cabinet pictures. Berchem's handling combines fluid, atmospheric handling of the sky and foliage with more precise modeling of the horses and repoussoir trees, producing a balance between naturalistic detail and idealized composition. Thin, translucent glazes articulate cloud forms and recession, while the horse figures are rendered with crisp contours and subtle chiaroscuro.
History & Provenance
Landscape with Two Horses is an oil painting on wood panel attributed to Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, dated to the year 1650. The work entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it remains on view; the museum's records describe its dimensions as 62 cm by 54.5 cm. Its provenance is limited to this institutional ownership, with no earlier sale or private collector documented. No specific inventory or accession number, nor any documented loan exhibitions or temporary displays, are recorded in the sources reviewed.
Overview
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, a prominent figure in Dutch Golden Age painting, created Landscape with Two Horses around 1650. This oil painting on wood exemplifies his characteristic pastoral scenes. It features a tranquil outdoor setting, with animals and expansive skies, reflecting the artist's engagement with the Italianate landscape tradition. The work is part of the collection at the Statens Museum for Kunst.
Context
As a leading artist of his generation, Nicolaes Berchem was instrumental in developing the Dutch Italianate landscape genre. His artistic vision, often informed by or inspired by travels to Italy, incorporated elements like classical ruins and idyllic pastoral imagery into his compositions. Landscape with Two Horses reflects this influence, showcasing a tranquil, idealized natural world that resonated with contemporary tastes for evocative and serene scenery.
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…
