Herdsmen Tending Cattle

Aelbert Cuyp’s painting of herdsmen and cattle along a river with an evocative ruin in the background is more pastoral than agricultural in its associations. In this respect it parallels a rich literary tradition glorifying the values of rural life. The herdsman in the bright red jacket seems to be getting his cows ready to return to the farmstead, if only he can convince his female companion to abandon this lovely spot on the riverbank.Many of the components of this work—the golden light, the atmospheric character of the distant landscape with its dramatic ruins, the diffused golden light that casts long shadows, the abstract shapes of the rocks and branches in the foreground—show the influence of the Italianate style of Jan Both (1615/1618–1652) and other Dutch artists who had worked in Italy.