Ruins in Italy
by BERCHEM, Nicolaes (Claesz.), Oil on panel, 52 x 42 cm
Many of the Dutch Italianate painters concentrated less on actual Italian themes than on the bright Mediterranean light. There was evidently a demand in the 17th century for paintings of shepherds and cattle in an imaginary and hilly foreign land in which enthusiasts undoubtedly recognized Arcadia. Jan Both, Nicolaes Berchem, Karel Dujardin, Jan Asselyn and Adam Pynacker were masters of the genre.