A Woman with Cows on a Road

Among Dutch art buyers in the seventeenth century, scenes of an idealised country life were enduringly popular. Many of these paintings followed a formulaic checklist, with a rural setting, humble cottage, clear weather and charming characters, both human and animal, as standard. The Dutch artist Karel Dujardin (1626-78), forged a career producing these types of genre paintings, often featuring well-observed cattle or sheep, tended by peasants in imagined countryside settings. Dujardin trained under Nicolaes Berchem (1620-83), one of the leading exponents of the Dutch Italianate style, where the warm skies and rolling hills of the campagna, or Italian countryside, infused the landscapes that appealed to the Dutch middle classes. His skills lay in the characterful and accurate depictions of the cattle that are the focus of his compositions, an element revived in this painting by a follower of Dujardin. 

This painting shows some of the hallmarks associated with Dujardin; the clear blue sky that takes up over half the composition and the bull standing firm and solid in the foreground. Its back is turned to the woman, awkwardly positioned behind, who appears poised to seek refreshment from the stone water trough nearby.  They are separated from the thatched dwelling in the background by a solid dark-coloured wall that divides the picture. This strong diagonal band separates the warm oranges of the foreground from the cool and hazy sky, a dramatic contrast that creates a sense of distance and silhouettes the stance of the bull, his horns clear against the sky. Further suggestions of other figures or animals can be glimpsed but are difficult to make out due to the condition of this painting.