Nicolaes Berchem

Nicolaes Berchem painted Italian landscapes with shepherds, cattle and golden light. He was one of the leading Dutch Italianate painters, and his pastoral scenes were very popular.

Born in Haarlem, he trained with his father Pieter Claesz and others. He travelled to Italy in the 1640s with Jan Baptist Weenix, and the memory of the Roman countryside stayed with him for the rest of his career in Haarlem and Amsterdam. He was very productive, with around 850 paintings and many etchings and drawings, and he taught a string of pupils, including Pieter de Hooch and Jacob Ochtervelt.

His idyllic scenes shaped later Rococo and Romantic landscape painting. Look at his warm evening light, the hills in the distance and the peaceful groups of animals and herdsmen in the foreground.