Italian Landscape, Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem, 1650 - 1683
oil on canvas, h 65cm × w 81cm More details
It is not certain whether Berchem ever travelled to Italy, but he excelled in rendering idealized scenes of the Italian countryside. His paintings were in great demand precisely because they included all the popular clichés: mountainous landscapes, warm light, hazy blue distances, bright skies and, of course, herders and shepherds with their cattle and sheep at watering holes or resting in the cool shade.
