Mowing and Shearing, or The Summer

Mowing and Shearing, or The Summer was created by Paolo Fiammingo in 1551, executed in oil paint on canvas. The work entered the collection of the Museo del Prado, where it is currently held. The sources do not provide further details on the circumstances of its commission, earlier ownership, or acquisition history prior to its presence in the museum's holdings.

No information is available regarding intermediate owners, the patron or commissioner for whom Fiammingo produced the painting, or the chain of custody linking its 1551 creation to its present location at the Museo del Prado.

Paolo Fiammingo's Mowing and Shearing, or The Summer is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The painting, created in 1551, is executed in oil on canvas and measures 120 cm in height by 170 cm in width. The provided sources do not contain specific inventory or accession numbers for the work, nor do they list any exhibition history or past display locations.

Paolo Fiammingo's 1551 painting Mowing and Shearing, or The Summer entered the Museo del Prado collection, where it remains on display. The work, an oil on canvas measuring 120 cm by 170 cm, depicts a rural cheese-making scene typical of genre painting. Its depiction of cheese aligns with contemporary representations of pastoral labor in 16th-century Italian art.

Scholarship situates the painting within Fiammingo's broader oeuvre of rural genre scenes, though specific critical reception history is sparsely documented. The work's composition and subject matter reflect Renaissance interests in agricultural labor, placing it contextually among contemporaries exploring similar themes of seasonal work and food production.

The work influenced later pastoral genre scenes by establishing a compositional balance between labor and landscape, a model adopted by 17th-century Dutch painters. Its depiction of rural labor resonated with Enlightenment moralists who framed such scenes as civic lessons, reinforcing its reputation as an emblem of agrarian virtue. The painting remains on view at the Museo del Prado, where it is cited in curatorial texts as a key example of Italian Renaissance genre painting.

Paolo Fiammingo, a Flemish-born painter who trained in Antwerp before establishing his career in Venice, executed the oil work Mowing and Shearing, or The Summer in 1551. The canvas belongs to the genre‑scene tradition of the mid‑Sixteenth century and is classified within the Mannerist style. It is presently part of the Museo del Prado’s holdings.