An Italianate wooded landscape with a woman riding an ox and a drover beside with his animals

Nicolaes Berchem, son of the Haarlem still-life painter Pieter Claesz, was one of the most important members of the second generation of Dutch Italianate painters. Although Arnold Houbraken asserted that Berchem undertook two journeys to Italy, neither can be confirmed through documentary evidence. It is possible that such a visit took place sometime between 1651 and 1653, as Berchem’s palette underwent a notable transformation during this period.

The figures and animals in this painting are nearly identical to those in another work by Berchem from 1654, now in the Wallace Collection, London (fig. 1; inv. no. P186). While the Wallace picture depicts an expansive vista rather than the forestry seen here, it is likely that this painting dates to the same moment in Berchem’s career. Whether or not Berchem had direct exposure to Rome, his artistry was undoubtedly shaped by his contemporaries who returned to Haarlem, bringing the Italianate style with them. At this point in his career, Jan Both’s depictions of the Italian countryside had a significant impact of Berchem’s approach, so much so that when this painting was sold in 1986, it was catalogued as a collaboration between both artists. However, as Peter Sutton has noted, ‘the treatment of the leaves and foreground foliage is entirely consistent with Berchem’s more delicate and rapid touch’ (loc. cit.).