Flemish school; 17th century.
"Pastoral scene".
Oil on canvas.
It has a 19th century frame.
Measurements: 62 x 85 cm; 71 x 91 cm (frame).
Oil on canvas of horizontal format, in which an image of country or pastoral character is developed. In the foreground, the author places a group of characters accompanied by several animals. The figures depicted in the scene are a group of men and women who, by their gestures and disposition, are resting. The large presence of the landscape and the small size of the figures reveal the artist's special interest in capturing the landscape.
It is worth mentioning that this was a period in which the feeling that man and nature should be complementary, one reflected in the other, began to take hold. In other words, landscape should arouse emotion and convey ideas. Thus, landscape painters such as the author of this painting tried to express their feelings through the landscape, rather than imitating it. This idea was established through two main strands: the dramatic, with its turbulent, fantastic views, and the naturalistic, which emphasised images of peaceful, serene nature, as in this case. It is this second conception that we see embodied in the present work; the painter seeks to communicate a religious reverence for the landscape, nature in its fullness, free from the industrial elements of modern life. Indeed, the artist's use of light here conveys a dreamlike atmosphere that invites the viewer to meditate and contemplate himself in the landscape. Landscape, however, is made up of very different types of manifestations which are not comparable; it does not affect all the national schools equally, remaining more faithful to tradition in schools such as the Italian, French or Dutch. Thus, in this canvas we do not find the grandiose scenery of the British and Germans, the rugged mountains or the monumental Gothic ruins. On the contrary, it is a landscape centred on the foreground.