Jan Siberechts, 'A Cowherd passing a Horse and Cart in a Stream', probably 1658
About the work
Overview
Here, the arduous journey of a laden wagon from farm to market is a town dweller’s dream of life in the country. Jan Siberechts lived in the city of Antwerp and earned his living producing such scenes for an urban clientele. Drawing on his experience in the countryside around the city, he idealised what he had seen, portraying ‘the peasant’ as a noble, hard-working figure, showing little sign of the effects of labour in a country where conditions could be harsh.
Siberechts has painted an idyll, but it’s the details and textures that seem to have given him the most pleasure: the folds in the old woman’s collar tickled by the feathery leaves below; the sunlight on the girl’s sturdy legs and the folds in her white petticoat; the glint on the cow’s tough horn next to its fluffy tuft of hair. These are all part of the idyllic illusion but were, for the people living in the fast-changing cities of seventeenth-century Flanders, nostalgic and reassuring.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Cowherd passing a Horse and Cart in a Stream
- Artist
- Jan Siberechts
- Artist dates
- 1627 - 1700/3
- Date made
- probably 1658
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 63.8 × 54.3 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by John P. Heseltine, 1907
- Inventory number
- NG2130
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1986Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
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