Artwork
Herd near a fountain
Herd near a fountain is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Willem Romeyn. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Technique & Style
Willem Romeyn executed Herd near a fountain in 1650 using oil paint applied to a panel support. The work is classified as a landscape painting, a genre in which the artist depicted trees and pastoral scenes. The physical dimensions of the panel measure 15 cm in height and 18.5 cm in width. This small-scale format is characteristic of the intimate landscape studies produced during this period.
History & Provenance
The work remained in the family possession of Adriaan Leonard van Heteren Gevers, maintaining its original commission and dating from the mid-17th century.
Willem Romeyn painted 'Herd near a fountain' in 1650 as an oil on panel landscape, originally part of the Kabinet van Heteren Gevers collection at the Rijksmuseum. The work remained in the family possession of Adriaan Leonard van Heteren Gevers, maintaining its original commission and dating from the mid-17th century.
The painting entered the Rijksmuseum's holdings through direct inheritance within the Van Heteren Gevers family, preserving its provenance from creation through successive ownership by the original collectors.
The painting 'Herd near a fountain' is housed in the Rijksmuseum's collection under the inventory number Kabinet van Heteren Gevers. It was owned by Adriaan Leonard van Heteren Gevers and has been exhibited as part of the museum's landscape painting displays.
The work was created in 1650 by Willem Romeyn using oil paint on panel, measuring 15 cm in height and 18.5 cm in width. It is classified as a landscape painting and is part of the Rijksmuseum's holdings in Amsterdam.
Context
Willem Romeyn's 1650 landscape painting Herd near a fountain, housed in the Rijksmuseum, was created during the Dutch Golden Age when landscape art evolved from background elements to central subjects. The work reflects Romeyn's specialization in topographical scenes and his influence on later Dutch landscape painters who emphasized naturalistic detail and atmospheric effects. Its presence in the Rijksmuseum's collection underscores its significance within the broader narrative of 17th-century Dutch art.
Overview
Willem Romeyn’s oil painting Herd near a Fountain, dated around 1650, presents a tranquil rural scene. Executed in the Dutch landscape tradition, the work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection. The composition centers on a modest stone fountain surrounded by livestock and a few figures, set against a hazy horizon.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas depicts a modest street where donkeys and cows, their loads draped in blue cloth, line the left side. A solitary man stands beside the fountain while sheep and goats rest nearby. The inclusion of a solitary tree and a distant pillar suggests a quiet, everyday moment in an agricultural community.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Willem Romeyn (1624–1697) was a Dutch Golden Age landscape artist, born in Haarlem.
