Oil painting, 'Landscape with Bridge and Cattle', style of Nicolaes Berchem, early 19th century

An Italianate landscape with figures and cattle under an old aqueduct: a shepherd is looking after his cattle while a woman, followed by her child, is carrying a pack of linen on the top of her head.

Bequeathed by John M. Parsons

Bequeathed by John M. Parsons, 1870
John Meeson Parsons (1798-1870), art collector, was born in Newport, Shropshire. He later settled in London, and became a member of the stock exchange. His interest in railways led to his election as an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1839, and he was director or chairman of two railway companies between 1843 and 1848. Much of his time however was spent collecting pictures and works of art. In his will he offered his collection of mostly German and Dutch schools to the National Gallery (which selected only three works) and to the Department of Science and Art at South Kensington, later the Victoria and Albert Museum. The South Kensington Museum acquired ninety-two oil paintings and forty-seven watercolours. A number of engravings were also left to the British Museum.

Historical significance: Originally catalogued as by Berchem (1893 Catalogue, p. 175), this appears to be an early 19th century imitation of Berchem's style. His compositions are typically peopled with peasants involved in such daily activities as washing laundry or looking after cattle.The bridge is a characteristic Berchem motif. also found in autograph works such as Peasants by a Roman Ruins in the Mauritshuis, The Hague, or Italian Ruins in the Rikjsmuseum, Amsterdam.

Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683) may have trained in Haarlem with Jan van Goyen. He was a prolific painter (about 850 paintings), draughtsman and etcher. He joined the Haarlem Guild of St Luke in 1642. From the mid-1650s until his death, Berchem worked in Haarlem and Amsterdam, where he died in 1683. He had a considerable influence and his numerous pupils included Karel Dujardin, Willem Romeyn, Hendrick Mommers, Dirck Maes, Pieter de Hooch and Jacob Ochtervelt. The French painter François Boucher owned some of Berchem's pictures in the mid-18th century, and his work also inspired Francesco Zuccarelli, Marco Ricci and perhaps even Antoine Watteau.

Berchem is best known for his imaginary Italianate landscapes. It is uncertain if he visited Italy or only known Italy through the drawings of artists who had travelled there. Italianate landscapes were particularly popular during the 17th century. The term conventionally refers to the school of Dutch painters and draughtsmen who were active in Rome for over a century from the early 17th century. They mainly produced pastoral scenes bathed in warm southern light, set in an Italian, or specifically Roman, landscape. The term is also often applied, but wrongly, to artists who never left the northern Netherlands but also worked primarily in an Italianate style. The taste for Italianate landscapes continued undiminished into the 19th century.

Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683) may have trained in Haarlem with Jan van Goyen. He was a prolific painter (about 850 paintings), draughtsman and etcher. He joined the Haarlem Guild of St Luke in 1642. From the mid-1650s until his death, Berchem shuttled back and forth between Haarlem and Amsterdam where he died in 1683.

This painting shows a landscape inspired by the countryside near Rome, with the remains of an aqueduct prominently silhouetted against the blue Mediterranean sky. Figures and cattle are depicted in an everyday life activity: the woman, carrying a pack of dirty linen on the top of her head, is probably about to wash it in the river nearby while she is looking after her child at the same time. As for the man, he is peacefully leading his cattle with a stick in his hand. This work appears to be an imitation of the early 19th century and illustrates the popularity of Berchem's inventions over the centuries.

538-1870