Artwork
Rest
Rest is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem. It dates from 1644 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work Rest (1644) by Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem portrays a tranquil countryside scene that includes a dog, a man, a woman, and a herd of cattle set against a rolling landscape. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art record, these figures inhabit an idealized rural environment typical of Dutch Golden Age pastoral painting, where the presence of livestock and a domestic staff suggests abundance and the harmonious relationship between humanity and nature. The composition's emphasis on pastoral labor and natural scenery reflects contemporary interpretations of the countryside as a source of moral virtue and economic prosperity, reinforcing the genre's symbolic association with peace and prosperity.
Technique & Style
Rest is an oil painting executed on panel, a support typical of seventeenth-century Dutch cabinet pictures of its modest scale.
Rest is an oil painting executed on panel, a support typical of seventeenth-century Dutch cabinet pictures of its modest scale. The work measures 43.2 cm in height by 34.3 cm in width, a format suited to intimate viewing. Berchem's handling reflects the Italianate Dutch landscape tradition, with oil paint applied to render pastoral figures, including a man, woman, dog, and cattle, set within a landscape.
The genre classification as a landscape painting aligns with the artist's mature stylistic concerns, while the panel support and oil medium are consistent with his production of small-format pastoral scenes. No condition reports are documented in the available sources.
History & Provenance
Painted by Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem in 1644, the oil-on-panel landscape Rest entered the collection of William T. Blodgett before being acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently held as part of the institution's collection of European paintings. The work measures 43.2 by 34.3 centimeters and is catalogued as a landscape depicting a man, woman, dog, and cattle. The catalogue entry does not specify an accession number, and no exhibition history is documented in the available sources.
Overview
The oil painting titled Rest depicts a tranquil rural landscape. It captures a moment of quiet repose in the countryside, featuring figures and livestock engaged in or observing daily activities. The composition centers on a woman attending to a cow, while a man observes nearby, all set against a backdrop of grazing animals and a serene sky.
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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…
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