Lot Essay
One of a set of four pictures by Roos of similar size acquired by Field Marshal Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg (nos. 142-145 of the c. 1750 inventory). Another picture of this set, A young goatherd with two dogs and six goats in an Italianate lanscape (inscribed with inventory no. '142'), was sold in these Rooms, 7 July 2000, lot 231 (£17,625). Dr. Hermann Jedding suggests a date for the set of circa 1695-1700 (letter). He points out that at this time the artist often places a large ox above the herd, examples of this is a picture in a private collection, Frankfurt (H. Jedding, Johann Heinrich Roos, Mainz, 1998, fig. 23,2) and a set of four in the Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona (ibid., fig. 289-93).